Consumers want environmentally friendly computers
Consumers want environmentally friendly computers
mongabay.com
June 26, 2006
A study conducted earlier this year by Ipsos-MORI on behalf of Greenpeace found that consumers say they would be willing to pay more for an environmentally friendly computer.
The amounts ranged from $59 in Germany, $118 in UK, $199 in China and $229 in Mexico.
Electronic waste (“e-waste”) is a serious concern for environmentalists. Every year, hundreds of thousands of old computers, mobile phones, and other electronic devices containing toxic chemicals are dumped in landfills, burned, or exported to poor countries where they are salvaged for parts and buried. The built-in obsolescence of cheap electronic goods has worsened the problem in recent years.
Some companies are now offering e-waste recycling programs to safely remove toxic elements and reuse components and raw materials. Dell, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of computers recently said it would phase out the use of two especially toxic chemicals — brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and the plastic polyvinyl chlorine (PVC) — by 2009. Hewlett Packard (HP), LGE, Nokia, Samsung, Sony and Sony Ericsson have recently made similar commitments according to Greenpeace, which believes these programs are key to the making the tech industry greener.
 Computer monitor washed up on a remote beach in Central Africa |
“Companies that take responsibility for the whole lifecycle of their products from cradle to grave ensure that their products last longer and cause less pollution,” reads said Greenpeace in a press statement. “Companies that take responsibility for the whole lifecycle of their products from cradle to grave ensure that their products last longer and cause less pollution. Our vision for the industry is one that produces cleaner, longer lasting, more sustainable products that don’t contribute to the growing tide of toxic, short lived products currently being dumped in Asia.”
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