A Mountain That Just Keeps Growing.’ What To Know About The E-Waste Left Behind By Your Gadgets
If you have old gadgets and wires filling up a drawer, you are not alone. Decades of the tech sector's pressure to "innovate or die" have led to a long list of useful and flashy household tech products—but many of these same devices also have a need to be replaced at almost the same rapid rate that new technology emerges. The result of this so-called planned obsolescence, combined with a limited number of options to repair older devices over the years, is a tsunami of electronic waste, also known as e-waste. And the fallout from it extends far beyond the headache of figuring out what to do with the clutter tucked away inside your home. "Planned obsolescence just makes it worse," said Jim Puckett, executive director of BAN Basel Action Network, an e-waste watchdog group based in Seattle. "P...