THERE IS NO ‘AWAY’

When we throw something ‘away’, it really must go somewhere…

As we contemplate our upgrade to System 11.0.0  lets investigate ‘e-waste’; a sustainable story about electronics!

Where is ‘somewhere’ when we throw electronic things away? It could very well be your garbage bin, the local dump, the Nevada desert, Asia or even outer space! ‘Somewhere’ could also refer to something being recycled or up-cycled. It might mean giving the discarded “thing” another life, even possibly a different use. When we throw something away, it really does go ‘somewhere’.

We’ve “harvested the industrial forest” for our design projects for over 20 years; using reclaimed wood from old buildings in our new-build or remodel building projects. But what about the “electronic jungle” which produces millions of tons of e-waste each year?

Electronics have a really big eco-footprint

This means their manufacture consumes lots of energy and water, along with valuable and sometimes scarce natural resources; making recycling and recovery of those components a key opportunity to reduce our impact on the planet.

On an individual level, when we upgrade some component of our electronic production/communication system, we pass along our old computers and smart phones to others in our local community who might not otherwise be able to own a reasonably new laptop computer or smart phone. We do this every few years, which means there’s still new life ‘somewhere’ for our own discarded electronics.

So what about the huge corporations which may retire hundreds or thousands of computers and smart phones each year? That’s a lot of electronic product that is still useful! Well, we’ll need a big ‘somewhere’, like a country in Africa or Asia….

But wait… there are a couple of very important ingredients that need to be taken care of “thoroughly” and “securely” before we ship, sell or donate those computers to ‘somewhere’ for a sustainable second life! Your data and electronic security. This means that the data has to be “sanitized”, making sure that the security of the corporation chucking out their electronics is not compromised down the road.

In pursuit of ideas for solutions to the piles of discarded computers and other electronics

I discovered Sage Sustainable Electronics, who are making our society more sustainable by creating a longer life for used electronics. Recyling of components is very good, but reuse of a working machine is way cool and much preferred!

Sage has designed a soup-to-nuts solution; they pick up your electronic assets at the corporate end, sanitize and refurbish them, and then sell or donate the electronics for a new life of use. Companies may opt to sell the refurbished computers to their own employees (Sage helps with this), or choose to donate to inner city schools, or other charitable organizations. Sage Good/Together is the non-profit component of Sage Sustainable Electronics.

Sage could be a great solution if you need to retire an older computer, or perhaps find a newer model than your current one. Perhaps you’d like to donate a computer or printer to your local non-profit, instead of breaking it up and adding to the landfill (in addition to paying to discard all those toner carts!).

So the next time you need to throw something away, stop and think for a moment where ‘away’ really is!

For instance, consider this as you sip your next cup ‘o coffee; do you realize that literally ‘millions’ of tons of coffee grounds are produced each year. Is there a productive ‘somewhere’ for all the waste produced by us well-caffeinated coffee drinkers?

Do you have a favorite sustainable “somewhere” story to share?

Please let us know about it?

Further reading on Use and Reuse from an Arch Daily

Disclosure: We have no investment in or professional connection with Sage Sustainable Electronics; other than we think their actions match our “Sustainable Design” criteria.