iFixit, a company fighting the damages of E-Waste
Rushing to buy a new smartphone because your old one is not working properly? Have you checked if it is reparable? There’s a company helping you to fix it.
Repair certain electronic devices might look an impossible mission at first sight, but iFixit might show you the opposite. All you need to do is write what do you need to fix on the search tab and a bunch of guides will pop up.
Anyone are able to create manuals for others to use and there are repair guides for smartphones, computers, speakers, and much more.
Fixing might take some of our time and energy, but by doing it we are fighting this huge environmental problem called electronic waste (E-Waste).
The lack of self-repairing is taking electronic devices to landfills. E-waste contains a number of toxic chemicals, including arsenic, mercury, lead, barium and chromium, and the later ones are being liberated to the environment.
Ghana is one of the countries suffering from E-Waste, since many recycling centers choose to ship their electronic waste to developing countries for processing. Due to that, people in the landfills are constantly beeing exposed to the chemicals mencioned before.
Beeing said, it's up to us to either feed the continuos damage of cytizens and the environment, or take a read over some iFixit* guides.
References:
- https://recyclenation.com/2017/04/where-does-e-waste-end-up/
- http://techland.time.com/2011/01/14/electronic-waste-where-does-it-go-and-what-happens-to-it/
Documentary about E- waste in Ghana: