[FreeGeek] IEEE Article discusses e-waste

[Paul Teehan]

Hello FreeGeeks,
I recently came across the attached article in a technical publication
I subscribe to.   It is a 'point of view' piece which discusses the
ethical responsibilities of the engineers who design computers and
electronics.   It also mentions that a short video about computer
recycling is available at www.ieee.org/ieeetv.  The video mentions a
San Francisco group called 'green citizen' which also operates in Palo
Alto - the heart of Silicon Valley. http://www.greencitizen.com/ -
they seem to be right up our alley. An interesting quote from the
article:

"A study commissioned by Hewlett
Packard found that 95% of American
consumers are unfamiliar with the
term "e-waste" and that 58% do not
know if there is a recycling program
for used technology products where
they live."

This article was published at the very front of the January 2007 issue
of the Proceedings of the IEEE, which is the world's most highly-cited
general interest technology journal.  The IEEE is the Institute for
Electronics and Electrical Engineers.  It is the foremost professional
association for technology professionals, with over 370,000 members
worldwide, and is responsible for hundreds of technical conferences
and journals annually.     I was excited to see this article -- it
happened quite randomly, I only saw it because I subscribe to the
print version of the magazine in which it appeared -- because this
means that many many influential people in the high tech sector also
saw it.

There may be copyright issues republishing this in print media but I
think I am probably permitted to share it with you.  Any university
student has access to it through their library.  And it the sort of
thing that should be shared anyway.

Best,
Paul
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: IEEE.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 99048 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.resist.ca/pipermail/freegeek-van/attachments/20070421/8a7975a9/attachment.pdf>