electronics lifecycle

Video: While the press flocked to Samsung’s sexy ultrabooks and dazzling displays (it has its own 55-inch OLED, *drool*) during CES, something no less important went under-reported. It turns out the company has something to say about its products before and after they leave the factory. In the YouTube video below, the company offers a glimpse [...]

Read more CES 2012: Samsung’s secret to climbing the sustainability rankings

by Pedro Hernandez on January 11, 2012 · 0 comments

Game maker with a message, Molleindustria (NSFW), may have stumbled on a sure-fire way to shine a light on the dark side of the electronics industry: create an iOS app about it and get it banned by Apple. Long story short, the company created a game called Phone Story based on the unsavory practices surrounding the [...]

Read more Banned! Apple nixes conflict mineral-y, e-waste-y Phone Story app

by Pedro Hernandez on September 15, 2011 · 0 comments

Video: Conceptually, e-waste is a simple concept. Businesses and consumers buy up gadgets that nowadays cost more to repair than re-acquire or upgrade. This causes mountains of toxic-laden trash to pile up in landfills or “recycling” centers overseas. Obviously, not a good thing. The issue becomes more complex when when you take into account how [...]

Read more Designed for the dump: The Story of Electronics

by Pedro Hernandez on December 21, 2010 · 1 comment

Video: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Repair. Let’s add Redistribute to the list. Rachel Botsman, co-author of “What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption,” has a great TED Sydney presentation on how social media and the “frictionless” aspects online community building are changing the behavior of consumers. From item swap sites to car sharing [...]

Read more Collaborative Consumption: The fifth ‘R’

by Pedro Hernandez on December 19, 2010 · 1 comment

iFixit.com Who’s it for? Gadget lovers, DIY types, green geeks Why should I bookmark this? Because you want to extend the life of your gadgets, hate e-waste and like to save money. OK, Tell me more. Sure thing! While writing about the green virtues of Dell’s touchscreen tablet, I realized that it had  been a [...]

Read more Bookmark this! iFixit

by Pedro Hernandez on August 18, 2010 · 0 comments

Shock and dismay. iRobot, the company behind the geek- and cat-friendly Roomba family of robotic vacuum cleaners is dispensing some terribly outmoded waste disposal advice. After receiving a non-functioning refurbished Roomba Scooba, iRobot quickly mobilized to send Graham Hill of…

Read more iRobot: Landfill is Roomba's Final Resting Place

by Pedro Hernandez on June 30, 2009 · 0 comments

As a nation, we love our TVs. So much so that we’re keeping nearly 100 million of old, likely CRT-based relics collecting dust. The New York Times reports: The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 99.1 million televisions sit unused in closets…

Read more Surprising E-waste Stat of the Day

by Pedro Hernandez on June 30, 2009 · 0 comments

You’ve probably seen pictures or footage of people in emerging countries, many of them very young, mired in toxic compounds as they scavenge for useful materials from mountains of e-waste that’s shipped from the U.S. and other wealthy nations. To…

Read more Will Emerging Countries Drown in Green IT's Toxic Wake?

by Pedro Hernandez on June 24, 2009 · 0 comments

Now 18 states are covered! Heather Clancy of GreenTech Pastures reports: Dell and Goodwill Industries have expanded the scope of their consumer technology recycling program (called Reconnect) to cover Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma and West Virginia. Visit…

Read more Dell Recycling Program Spreads

by Pedro Hernandez on June 9, 2009 · 0 comments

Did you know that Panasonic has a recycling program that lets customers drop off defunct, Panny-branded gear at no charge? They do, and their program has just expanded to 310 locations by adding 30 more drop-off points in the Southeast,…

Read more Panasonic Expands Electronics Recycling Program

by Pedro Hernandez on April 14, 2009 · 0 comments