Technology: Friend or Foe?

Sunday, November 9th, 2008
by Josh L

As I sat in Spanish class Thursday afternoon, I began to wonder. We were watching a movie about environmental awareness, and many different topics were discussed. Among the many, global warming came up. I sat there and watched a video with many different pictures, but there was one that caught my attention. It was a picture of a bunch of old and broken computers, in one big pile. Then, a light bulb went off in my brain, and I thought about it, do the advancements in technology help us as much as they hurt us?

Think about it. What happens when the new iPod comes out? Chances are you already have an iPod, and it works perfectly fine. Chances are your iPod is actually the latest model, and you already have hundreds, if not thousands of songs on it. Chances are the whole time all you’ve been doing is waiting for the next iPod to come out, so you can go to your parents, and say, “I have to have it!” We are victims of our own addiction. We’re addicted to consumerism, and buying new, [unnecessary], nice things.

So what happens when you log onto apple.com, or when you see that commercial you’ve been waiting for? You go to your parents, or if you’re already at the age where you no longer depend on your parents, yet you still have an addiction to consumerism, you go yourself, (shame on you), and you buy the new iPod. Some go to the store, some buy online, and unfortunately, some wait until others buy it and steal it. Some try to hide their guilt by waiting a while, to then buy it used or refurbished online. But what happens to the old iPod? It gets handed down, stored, or forgotten. Eventually, it gets thrown out.

The problem is the iPod contains materials that aren’t recyclable, which go to the incinerator. For those of you that aren’t as environmentally aware as others, incinerators are used to burn trash, as well as being among the top sources for releasing harmful toxins into the air, which inevitably deplete the ozone layer. Basically, when you throw away an iPod, you inevitably are contaminating and polluting the very air we breathe and depend upon. The problem is it’s not just iPod. It’s computers, electronics, appliances, cell phones, and anything else you might have a hard time trying to explain if you took it apart.

We are our own worst enemy. Our addiction to technology inevitably adds to the bigger issue: global warming. It may seem like just an iPod, or just a laptop, but when you multiply that by millions, it adds up. What we need to do is get over our need to impress others, and stop worrying about stereotypes and image. Because if you really think about it, the majority of the time new electronics are purchased, it isn’t because the old one isn’t functional; it’s to impress people.

So the next time someone comes to you with the issue of global warming, ask them, “what are you doing with your electronics?”

Photo Credit: juanpol

Photo Credit: pfala

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