greenfire

Is your phone or laptop destined to become a ‘technofossil’?

Forty-four million tonnes of e-waste was generated last year. Activists want big tech to start dealing with the problem. by Sanjana Varghese 27 Aug 2019   Because worldwide annual e-waste is worth $62.5bn – more than the gross domestic product of many countries – environmental advocates are encouraging reclamation efforts like this mobile-phone recycling workshop in Lima, Peru [File: Guadalupe Pardo/Reuters] Janet Gunter was working at an international nongovermental organisation (NGO) when she noticed an alarming trend. She had grown…

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Film lays bare toxic impact of our dependence on tech gadgets

CULTUREASIAN FILM Film lays bare ‘toxic’ impact of our dependence on tech gadgets A new documentary from American filmmaker Sue Williams, Death by Design, holds up a mirror to modern consumers, exposing the environmental and health costs of our reliance on devices that have depressingly short lifespans “I could have made it (the film) about plastic bottles or blue jeans, but I wanted to take something that everybody feels really attached to.” Williams tells Asia Times. “I think it’s a…

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Why Hydro-Politics Will Shape The 21st Century

It's been called the 'next oil'. In the coming decades, the supply of water has the potential to influence geopolitics, diplomacy and even conflict. By Bryan Lufkin 16 June 2017 The 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace pits 007 against an evil criminal syndicate bent on global domination. Sounds par for the course… but this particular network of baddies isn’t using lasers or missiles to cause havoc. Grand Challenges In this special series, Future Now takes a close look at the…

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