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America Goes Green Essay

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If a new iPhone is coming out, would you like to change your cell phone? With the arrival of technological age, we upgrade our consumer electronics faster and faster. But do you know where the used one go? When the electronic products no longer in use, they become the electronic waste (E-waste) which need to be collected separately from other waste. “E-waste refers to the 50 million tons of electronics discarded into landfills each year in the United States." said Kim Kennedy White, the author of the book –America Goes Green. Even though some people think the export of E-waste not only saves the cost of recycling them in the US but also helps the economic growth of developing countries, actually a lot of problems come with the export of E-waste. These problems include the environmental pollution, unqualified and unsafe recycled products, and unsustainable development. We need to pass laws to prohibit exporting the electronic waste to the developing countries to reduce the harm from the lack of supervision of each process of E-waste recycling in those countries. …show more content…

Most E-waste is not dealt with in the US, but exported to developing countries such as China, India, Pakistan, Ghana and Nigeria, where workers deal with them in an unsafe way. US News reported, “The workers at informal recycling operations often use crude, hazardous techniques to extract valuable metals from the equipment and then burn what’s left.” In this process, toxic gases will be released to air, heavy metal will be soaked into the soil, a variety of harmful substances will flow into the oceans along the rivers and streams. It not only affects the local area, but also all the human being and entire

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