Mark Evans

How Come the Tech Industry Ain’t Greener?

For all the excitement about Earth Day, does anyone think the high-tech industry is doing all it can to become more environmentally-friendly? Does recycling or reusing mean anything within the high-tech industry where success is measured in the number of units sold? Sure, some computer makers offer some sort of recycling if you are willing to mail back components but it’s not like a lot of people are taking them up on the offer given the number of PCs and monitors left on the curb during garbage day.

If the computer industry, for example, was serious about getting green, it would embrace a more modular approach by making easier for consumers to swap out old parts such as hard drives, video cards and even CPUs to upgrade machines. Alas, there doesn’t seem to be much interest in being green - other than pushing energy-efficient machines - so all those junked computer parts ended in landfill or rural towns in China.

Update: For for on the problem with tech trash, check out this CTV.ca story looking at Canada lags behind Europe when it comes to disposing of electronic waste. San Diego.com has a story looking at HP’s efforts to recycle computer components, and noted that 133,000 PCs are thrown out a day in the U.S.