Technology is something that most people do not think twice about. If we want to watch a movie, we turn on the TV and watch for however long we want. It is rare to find a student without a laptop and tablet just as it is rare to find anyone who doesn’t carry a cellular device around with them. Since technology happens to be easily accessible, and there are no immediate consequences for the free use of it, most people are not aware of the environmental effect that our tech can have.?
????Most technology components must be sourced from raw materials. Elements such as lithium and platinum are two common metals that are extracted in enormous quantities to meet market demands. Removing those and other materials for tech manufacturing is incredibly energy intensive and often very damaging to the ecosystem. Even after the raw materials are extracted, the carbon footprint in the manufacturing process of technology is significant. For example, manufacturing one ton of laptops could produce around ten tons of carbon dioxide.?
????Simply using your tech also leaves a carbon footprint. Browsing the Web, watching cartoons, storing data in the cloud, all relies on data centers that are powered by copious amounts of fossil fuels. Now add AI into the technology mix and the ecological costs soar. Building data centers to manage the increased processing power and keeping them from overheating uses a tremendous number of resources. In 2023, approximately seventeen billion gallons of water was used by US data centers for cooling purposes alone, and that quantity is only rising with more centers being built in the years to come.
????Improperly discarded technology often ends up in landfills. When this happens, metals used in the device’s components can leach into the surrounding environment, seeping into groundwater or remaining in the soil and polluting both.
????Technology is not going anywhere. It has become a vital necessity in navigating life with greater ease. The key to this growing crisis is mitigating its waste and disposal. Repair older devices or dispose of them in an ecological way where components can be recovered and recycled.?Even the technology used in recycling tech is improving using robots to break down tech into recoverable components. There is always a solution, what matters most is awareness, consistency and innovation!
https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-and-water-consumption