How do you keep up? It’s pretty simple: follow the buzz. Cultivate news-breakers in the tech industry on Twitter. Keeping an eye on the technology sections of news websites may keep you informed, but finding the blogs that focus exclusively on technology will keep you up to speed on each new development in the industry.

(Image Credit: Yuri Arcurs)

TechCrunch, Engadget, Verge, The Next Web, Mashable!, and MacRumors are just a few examples of the invaluable breaking news and insight in the tech world, from the perspective of the tech world. Mashable!, for example, often does livestreams of big announcements from Facebook, Google, and other major technology and software companies. But just a brief glance at these frequently-updated blogs puts a lot of posts (hundreds a week) in front of you. It’s a lot of information to digest, and it can quickly get out of hand.

Enter Rich Site Summary (RSS) feeds. Not unlike email subscriptions, RSS feeds take new content and send it to you via aggregating software. These readers can be either downloaded or web-based. And that’s just about as complicated as it gets: choose your reader and then subscribe to what you want to read.

The Old Reader, Feedly, and Pulse are some examples of RSS readers. Pulse is a more colorful and visual reader, whereas The Old Reader interface is more text-based. Feedly is somewhere in the middle, depending on your settings.

You can connect through an email account, or via Facebook in Pulse. Adding an RSS subscription is as simple as hitting the, “add subscription” button and typing in the blog name or URL or clicking the RSS feed button directly on the site. With the latter method, keep in mind you may have to add the blog manually, if the RSS button on the website isn’t specific to your reader. Feedly will sometimes redirect to the blog’s landing page on their platform.

The freshest technology buzz often springs up in the real world first: at technology conferences. Developments in Twitter, Facebook, and Google might not seem like a big deal to your business, but they could fundamentally change how people find and interact with your business. And new technology like Twitter, which kicked off at South by Southwest, is apt to pop up over an information-packed weekend.

You don’t have to go out and buy a ticket to every major technology conference, thanks to things like blogging and Twitter. Recaps and liveblogs for many presentations will be available the day of or following the speaker’s closing remarks, and live-tweeting is common.

On the subject of Twitter, another great place to catch breaking technology developments is from the industry itself. Handles like @chrismessina, a Google+ user experience designer and the creator of the Twitter hashtag, @timoreilly, who publishes Make Magazine and writes technology instruction manuals and textbooks, and @davewiner, a Harvard research fellow who essentially invented RSS, blogs, and podcasts (Winer has also contributed to Wired and often tweets industry news and commentary).

Other good tech people to follow on Twitter are @asymco, who posts a lot of mobile figures for Samsung, Google, and Apple, @SammyWalrusIV, an anonymous Apple employee who tweets insider info, and @JonErlichman, the Senior West Coast Technology Correspondent for Bloomberg. If you follow at least a couple of these guys, and pay attention to whom they tweet and re-tweet, you can probably find other great sources of news, tips, and insights on Twitter.

Keeping up with rapidly-evolving technology and trends isn’t difficult: following the right blogs and people for just an hour of your day can keep you with, if not ahead of, the game.

The post Don’t be the Last to Know: How to Keep up with Emerging Technology appeared first on MetroFax Blog.

Walking Desks

Desks that allow you to walk and work simultaneously are the superstars of healthy workplaces. Most pre-assembled models are pretty pricey: One of the most well-known comes out to a grand total of $4,399, while a lower-end version will set you back by about $500. These desks allow you to walk while still completing all of your work. Walking at a comfortable speed of 3 mph burns about 300 calories per hour, all while giving your hip and leg muscles a great workout. You might even get more work done than you normally do, given the fact that exercise has been proven to boost both stamina and productivity. And, since walking itself has been found to strengthen bones, improve the cardiovascular system, oxygenate the brain, and lead to a longer lifespan, by the time you’re ready to call it a day you may just find yourself feeling better than ever.

Desk Cycle

Though immediately installing a walking desk in your office would certainly be beneficial, sometimes it’s just not feasible. Maybe you work in a very regimented and structured environment where such a desk would be frowned upon; maybe you’re not willing to fork over the necessary cash; or maybe you simply don’t want to be the only one strolling along on your treadmill while everyone else remains seated. Whatever your reasoning, know that there exists an alternative both discreet and affordable: desk cycles. These compact devices consist of a set of pedals mounted on a small, sturdy frame, and usually only cost about $50. They’re able to slide under your desk with no trouble at all, and allow you to improve circulation, burn calories, and get in your daily exercise, all in an easy, whisper-quiet fashion. Pedaling away on a desk cycle for just 25 minutes raises the average number of calories per hour (over an 8 hour work day) to 111, and your newly active hamstrings, quadriceps, and calf muscles will certainly thank you.

Standing Desks

Walking is indeed wonderful for you, but the simple act of standing is often overlooked. In a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 30 office workers volunteered to alternate between sitting and standing while in the workplace. By the end of the study, 87% of the workers felt energized, 87% felt more comfortable, 71% felt more focused, and 62% felt happier in general. And, as if that weren’t convincing enough, standing burns about 144 calories per hour and also strengthens back and calf muscles in a safe, gentle manner. All those benefits could be yours, with no bells, whistles, or gadgets necessary—all you need is a taller-than-usual desk and a chair to go with it. You’ll then be able to switch between sitting and standing at your leisure, all while enjoying better health and a supercharged mood.

Balance Ball Chair

If you’d prefer to improve your fitness without even thinking about it, a balance ball chair could be for you. A standard model is refreshingly affordable at about $25, while a specially-designed balance ball chair is still reasonably priced at about $80. A 2008 study revealed that office workers who used balance ball chairs burned 4 more calories per hour than those using traditional chairs (totaling about 90 calories per hour), gave their back muscles a workout, and also preferred it to working in a standing position. Since balance balls are affordable, light, and just as compact as standard office chairs, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t reap the benefits of one.

If you’re looking to get fit at the office, you don’t need a fancy exercise routine, an elite personal trainer, or a slew of expensive equipment. All you need to do is walk, pedal, stand, or balance your way to a healthier, more productive you.

The post Increasing Health and Productivity with Deskercise appeared first on MetroFax Blog.

Collaborative Consumption

Image Credit: Pressmaster

If you haven’t heard this phrase yet, it’s one to remember. Collaborative consumption is a growing trend of sharing, renting, or trading just about everything, including parking spots, cars, e-books—even money. Netflix® and Zipcar® come to mind as the most established examples.

Also referred to as the “sharing economy,” the basic value lies in the fact that, when people and businesses share, less goes to waste. This reduces personal expense and environmental impact. For example, 50% of U.S. households own a power drill, but most are used for less than 15 minutes over their lifetime.

Items that are recycled or disposed of can be swapped or donated instead. Probably the biggest impact possible lies in donating office equipment, like printers and computers, to schools or non-profits. One of the most intriguing “shareables” for businesses is office space itself.

Shared Space

Image Credit: Goran Bogicevic

Across the globe, individuals, businesses, and organizations of all kinds are exploring shared office space. The HUB is shared workspace that not only reduces the costs and environmental impact of many individual office spaces, but encourages collaboration and innovation among members in sustainability ventures. It was founded in 2005 in London. More than 30 Hubs are now open on five continents; an additional 50 Hubs are in development.

Other shared office spaces where you or your group can work on anything you want, while still limiting environmental impact significantly, can be found through companies like Green Desk. Their offices have taken sustainability seriously, so all you need to do is rent the space. Their sustainable actions include purchasing carbon offsets, a bicycle sharing program, energy-efficient lighting, low Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) finishes, and filtered water on every floor to limit the use of water bottles.

Soy­-based Toner

Image Credit: manaemedia

Traditional toner is made using petroleum, a non­renewable resource. 400 million pounds of petroleum­-based toner are used to make 3 trillion copies and printed pages in the U.S. each year. As this type of ink dries, it releases VOCs into the air. VOCs contribute to global warming and can cause a myriad of health problems. A better alternative for laser printers is soy-based toner cartridges.

Soy ink has several benefits over traditional, petroleum-­based inks. It releases far fewer VOCs than traditional ink. In fact, the LA Times reportedly reduced their VOC emissions by 200 tons per year when they transitioned to soy-­based ink. Soy ink also produces more vivid colors, spreads further, and is both biodegradable and non­toxic. Soybeans are a sustainable resource. SoyPrint® takes the environmental friendliness a step further by remanufacturing their cartridges. Each soy-based toner cartridge replaces one pound of oil-based toner.

State and national soybean initiatives exist to help enhance and fund research into soybean use, including the possibility of soybean­-based inkjet cartridges, which don’t yet exist. Soy­-based toner does have some downsides. An important fact to acknowledge is that soy­-based inks still contain some petroleum, as well as a host of other un­friendly ingredients, like Carbon Black. While soy ink is known to have a longer drying time, the soy-based toner cartridges use a soy powder that doesn’t have that problem.

Apps

Image Credit: Cienpies Design

Of course apps exist for everything, including apps to help us all be even more environmentally conscientious. While most apps focus on aiding individual behavior, like locating the nearest recycling bin with iRecycle, they still benefit your whole office (and the whole world). Smartphone users can use apps to search carpools, find the origin of the seafood they order at lunch, and keep their phone from sitting on the charger after reaching a full charge, among many other planet friendly helpers. If the whole office uses note taking apps, fax apps, and to-do list apps, the need for paper drops significantly.

Making a truly eco-friendly office requires constant follow-through on the efforts you’ve implemented, as well as staying informed on the newest developments. While advice like changing the type of light bulbs you use and printing on both sides of paper is valuable, thinking outside the box will help your business move above and beyond the basics of environmental responsibility and into a new era of eco-friendly business.

The post The Eco-Friendly Office appeared first on MetroFax Blog.

The post A Look at Fully-Evolved Technology appeared first on MetroFax Blog.

What to Watch Out For

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) guidelines concerning green marketing leave some wiggle room for marketers, so it is truly up to the consumer to find the real environmentally-friendly products.

Packaging

You may have noticed that companies are using eye-grabbing packaging less often. They are instead opting for natural tones and an organic feel. Just because it looks green, doesn’t mean it is green. Check the label, look at the brand’s product page, and find out what you’re buying.

Labels, Seals, and Statements

As creative as packaging can get, the statements made on a product can be just as grandiose. If a label is making wild claims, like, “reduces carbon emissions by 50%,” or, “fights global warming,” you want to double check their claims.

Laid down by the environmental marketing firm, UL TerraChoice, the “Sins of Greenwashing” include: blatant lies about a product; a hidden trade-off; irrelevant or vague claims; no proof; using a green gimmick to distract from a larger problem; and giving a consumer the impression of a third-party endorsement.

When double checking a “green” product, ask:

1. Do they have independent research?
2. Does the brand provide information on their materials and their processes?
3. Are they certified by a third-party organization? Is that third-party organization a real one?
4. If a product claims to be “free of” a given substance, what is the substance in question? Why is harmful? Is it banned or restricted in production already?
5. Pay close attention to buzzwords. Words like “eco-safe,” “biocompatible,” “biodegradable,” “all-natural,” and “organic” can miss the green mark.
6. Does the company have a section on their website dedicated to environmental action? How does it look? Was it updated recently?
7. Has the company been mentioned in environmental news lately?

This may take a little longer than going in and just buying a product, but it sure beats getting duped. Outdated “green” pages on a brand’s website might indicate environmental apathy. If you can’t find the information online, try calling the manufacturer. Companies who are tight-lipped with information may be hiding something. The news (or trustworthy blogs) can also point to a nasty picture behind the clean, green product dream.

Consumer Reports has a handy index for labels, certifications, and buzzwords used on green products and whether or not they mean anything.

Further Product-Specific Resources

Cosmetics

Checking out your cosmetics gets tricky. The FDA does not approve cosmetics before they hit the market—save for color additives. The companies are legally responsible for the safety of the materials they use, although federal regulations ban some materials.

For untested products, warning labels are supposed to appear “prominently and conspicuously… in bold type of contrasting background… but in no case may the letters and/or numbers be less than 1/16 inch in height… [unless the] label of any cosmetic package is too small.”

The next time you feel like you need to double check your products, or you find you’re allergic to something, head over to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Skin Deep^® database. Hosting more than 78,800 products in an easy-to-read format, Skin Deep allows you to search by specific product, brand, or chemical.

Food

If you browsed the Consumer Reports claims index above, you might have noticed a couple of things: terms like “100% Vegan,” “free range,” “hormone free,” and “natural” mean little or nothing.

For lovers of pork, chicken, lamb, turkey, and beef, EWG and CleanMetrics created a guide on how the meat you eat impacts your family and the environment. Meat Eater’s Guide to Climate Change and Health provides a helpful breakdown of what “cage-free,” “grass-fed,” and other terms really mean, as well as the carbon emissions associated with specific sections of the meat industry. They won’t try to make you into a vegetarian, but they will educate you on the impact meat has on the climate and your health.

A more general guide to pesticides in common fruits and vegetables is also provided by EWG. Their Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce analyzes 60,700 samples taken from 45 popular fruits and vegetables by USDA and FDA. They rank produce from dirtiest to cleanest.

Home Products and Cleaners

Like cosmetics, there is no approval process from home cleaners, nor do federal regulations require complete disclosure of materials. Hazardous substances, though, are required to be disclosed according to the Federal Hazardous Substances Act. Pressure from consumers has led some manufacturers to release all the materials they use, but some have not. Make sure you check all warnings and chemicals before buying a product.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will give you a rundown on common products in their Household Products Database. While incomplete, the list will let you know the materials listed by the manufacturer, safety, and health alerts. Keep in mind the chemicals listed are only the ones the company has chosen to disclose.

EWG also saves you from legwork. In a much smaller (but still growing) database of 2,000 products, their Guide to Healthy Cleaning will answer some of your burning questions about detergents, dish soaps, and cleaners. They also note environmental hazards when grading products.

Cars

Plenty of cars are touting great gas mileage and environmentally-friendly features. But, in some cases, you need to look at the trade-off that supposedly “green” cars take to earn that label. In this case, it’s paying attention to ongoing research instead of a database or product label.

In the Journal of Industrial Ecology, a group of scientists published life cycle assessment research which busted a lot of green bubbles. Since they hit the market, electric vehicles (EVs) have been plugged as the environmental savior from oil and carbon emissions. When you get down to the business of actually producing EVs, things get tricky: Evidence suggests that EVs may significantly increase instances of human toxicity, freshwater toxicity and oxygen depletion, as well as depletion of scarce metals.

Nearly half of the global warming potential of an EV happens before it’s even sold. Carbon emissions from production are twice that of cars with internal combustion engines. And, after production, the question of where the electricity comes from affects an EV’s impact. If the car charges on electricity from fossil fuels or coal, charging the vehicle completely negates its environmental benefits.

The moral of the story? Just because it looks green and talks green doesn’t mean it is.

Gas

Despite being oxymoronic, eco-friendly gas—especially biofuel—is now a staple at the pump. Ethanol, an alternative fuel source the government is pouring money into, is a large part of the debate concerning cleaner fuel sources.

Is it a greenwash? The fuel economy of E10, or a blend of 10% ethanol and 90% gas, will take 3-4% off your average miles per gallon (MPG). For a 32 MPG car, that’s a 0.96-1.28 MPG loss. E85, a blend of 85% ethanol and %15 gas, will take 25-30%—or 8-9.6 MPG—off your car’s fuel economy. Of course, E85 can only be used in flexible fuel vehicles.

The question of whether or not ethanol reduces carbon emissions is heatedly debated as well. However, about 90% of gas sold in the U.S. is E10, so you might not have much of a choice.

Do Your Research

The only way to be a truly green customer is to keep an eye out for fishy tactics and fact-check everything. Take a look at some research online (it’s not as boring as it sounds). In some cases, even checking governmental or organizational decisions may be worth your while.

Environmentally-friendly product standards are filled with loose language and are often based on ongoing research. If you’re really looking to boost your green karma, arm yourself with knowledge before you buy.

The post Avoiding the Greenwash appeared first on MetroFax Blog.

The post Six Ways Mobile Technology Can Give Your Business An Edge appeared first on MetroFax Blog.

Gold, silver, copper, and palladium are all components in your cell phone. For every million cell phones recycled, the recycler can harvest 75 pounds of gold, 772 pounds of silver, 35,274 pounds of copper, and 33 pounds of palladium. In average 2012 market prices, that’s more than $2 million in gold, $384,000 in silver, $130,000 in copper, and $374,000 in palladium (all told, $2.89 million). That doesn’t include other metals like tin, zinc, and nickel, which can also be recycled and sold.

But they aren’t the only materials that bring your phone to life. Lead, mercury, and other heavy metals, along with various chemicals, are used in your phone and other electronics. Both lead and mercury have long been connected to neurological and kidney damage. Despite casings which make these compounds safe for everyday use, they still pose a serious threat to people and the environment.

Photo courtesy krunkwerke

The real danger of these vital electronic components is improper disposal. Most of the contaminants used in our technology are bioaccumulative, which means that it stays and builds in the environment or in a person. For all the danger they pose—not to mention waste of expensive, precious minerals—it’s a small wonder the U.S. doesn’t recycle them as religiously as paper or aluminum. Just how useful are they?

Lead is an incredibly versatile heavy metal; in electronics, it’s used in circuit boards, cathode ray tubes (CRTs), batteries, and as solder for stubborn metals. For all its usefulness, it comes with a heavy price. Inhalation or ingestion of lead can lead to anemia, nervous system damage, cardiovascular issues such as heightened blood pressure and hypertension, decreased kidney function, and reproductive problems.

Mercury, which produces light when energized, is a main component for LCD screens and the tilt switch that powers off your laptop when you close it. And while it’s a great display for our phones, mercury is exceedingly toxic. It can be inhaled, ingested, or absorbed through skin and accumulates in the body, damaging the kidneys and brain.

Cadmium, which is used in nickel-cadmium (NiCad) rechargeable batteries and as a corrosion protector for metals, coatings, and solar cells, is equally toxic. Cadmium sulphide can also be used in CRTs. Most exposure comes from fume or dust inhalation. Chronic contact can result in kidney, bone, and lung disease, as well as cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, reproductive, and neurological damage.

Copper-beryllium alloys are used in your cell phone and battery connections, allowing your smartphone to be the glorious, multi-function device it is. Direct contact with beryllium can irritate the eyes and skin. Inhalation will irritate the lungs, and prolonged exposure can cause lung disease.

Halogenated flame retardants (HFRs)—brominated and chlorinated—are complex chemicals added to plastics in electronics to reduce fire risk. Five brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are used extensively, although two are being phased out of regular production. Production of BFRs doubled from 2008 to 2010, but due to growing health concerns and regulations, all BFRs are being phased out in home and electronic goods.

Their replacements, chlorinated flame retardants (CFRs)—most notably chlorinated Tris or TDCPP—aren’t shaping up to be safe either. Production of CFRs went from 10,000 metric tons annually in 2008 to 53,000 metric tons in 2010.

As the names get more complex, so do the effects. Hindered neurodevelopment, diabetes, immunotoxicity, thyroid disruption and cancer, lowered fertility, cryptorchidism (failure of a boy’s testes to drop), decreased bone density, damage to DNA, and erectile dysfunction have all been connected to or associated with high levels of various HFRs. When HFR-treated products are burned, they release dioxins and furans that are associated with multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, also prostate and testicular cancers.

Photo Courtesy isox4

HFRs are inhaled and ingested in our everyday lives. You don’t need to burn something to get minimal exposure to HFRs—dust on treated products can expose you. Levels of pentaBDE, a banned BFR, in U.S. citizens are reaching levels considered dangerous to animals.

And these aren’t the only ones. Zinc, yttrium, chromium, nickel, antimony trioxide, tin, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and phthalates are also frequently used in electronics. Most are recognized as probable or known carcinogens.

Aside from HFRs, the likelihood of being exposed to these substances is low. Unless you’re nearby an unsafe plant or you go out of your way to burn electronics, you’re not at risk.

The real issue with e-waste is disposal. Electronics have become so sophisticated that they’re incredibly hard to break down one by one, let alone en masse.

Awareness about the dangers of dumping e-waste is growing, which means that recycling rates are going up. In the U.S., 25 states have some kind of electronics recycling program. California’s seven-year-old program has collected more than 580,000 tons of electronic waste.

(Photo Courtesy curtis palmer)

While regulation—in the U.S., at least—is sparse, the market is working on it. Pressure from environmentally-minded organizations like Greenpeace, and European Union initiatives like WEEE and RoHS, seem to have kick-started companies into green initiatives. The bonus of a green product stamp isn’t too bad either.

If you look at, say, Samsung™ and Apple^® green product policies, you’ll see that they have both begun to phase out many of these heavy metals in their products. While organizations like Greenpeace have questioned some companies’ words, BFRs are being phased out of most products—you can look at ChemSec’s market overview or check out Greenpeace’s green product report cards.

But as these dangerous compounds and metals move out of the market, we still have old devices to worry about. As the big e-waste problem shifts from U.S. landfills to the backyards of developing and transitioning countries today.

“Informal” recycling doesn’t really vary from place to place. For operations in Agbogbloshie, the focus is burning. It’s low tech, done out in the wasteland that used to be wetland. For Guiyu, primitive acid baths are used to collect gold, along with coal fires used to burn off plastics and collect copper. Seelampur, in New Delhi, has similar processes. The air is becoming toxic. No safe disposal measures exist for these drums full of toxic chemicals. They contaminate soil or water sources.

While the market is slowly developing safer products, it’s still vital to dispose of your electronics safely. You don’t know who you could be hurting by giving your electronics away to less-than honest recyclers, like the company who sent old CRTs over to Guiyu after assuring their customers e-waste was recycled in the United States. Knowing where you’re sending your e-waste is half of the battle.

The post The Dirty Underbelly of Your Sleek Electronics appeared first on MetroFax Blog.

The post What if All Offices Went Green appeared first on MetroFax Blog.

The post E-Waste Explosion: A Growing Concern appeared first on MetroFax Blog.

Yet even the greenest products eventually reach the end of their useful lives. When it comes to electronics, little thought may be given to their “afterlife” by those who dispose of them. Consumers care about how device disposal affects their health—and their wallets. But the green status of an electronic device isn’t only about its constituent parts or how it works—it’s about how easily it can be disassembled and disposed of.

If you’ve ever opened up a computer, you understand. Wires and circuit boards are comprised of thousands of materials, chemicals, and coatings that make disassembly not only time-consuming, but hazardous. Yet this electronic waste, or e-waste, must be taken apart before it can be recycled.

This added work to the recycling process leads some recyclers to cut corners. E-waste ends up in the hands of people eager to turn waste management into much-needed income, but with no means of safe disposal. When the new trade in Guiyu, China, began to make headlines, no one could deny the economic boom e-waste brought to the small city. However, the resulting pollution soured the growing industry, and caused the environment and citizenry to suffer.

E-waste is in limbo. Several countries are bound under international agreements to keep toxic waste out of the hands of developing and transitioning countries. Others, like the United States, have pledged support of the initiative, but have done little to create real change.

The Basel Convention

The largest piece of e-waste legislation comes from the United Nations. The Basel Convention was launched in 1989, in response to hazardous waste trafficking along international borders of more developed countries. But it didn’t reach full steam until the 1990s.

Basel’s key points come in two decisions: Ban Decision II/12 and III/1. Passed in 1994, Ban Decision II/12 prohibits the export of hazardous waste from countries belonging to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to non-OECD countries. Decision III/1 adds the European Union and Liechtenstein to the list, and amends the waste ban to countries that are not a part of the OECD or EU (plus Liechtenstein).

Unfortunately, the countries usually cited for exporting e-waste are the same countries bound by the agreement.

What’s Going on in the U.S.?

The United States, a member of the OECD, had two proposed bills in the House and the Senate to ban the export of e-waste. Both came to a standstill in committees, and were killed when the 112th Congress ended.

The picture is more encouraging at the state level. Twenty-five states have passed laws banning (some) electronics from landfills, providing collections for old devices, or mandating producers have a take-back program. In the 17 states who reported data, more than 1.8 trillion pounds of e-waste have been removed from the waste stream since the programs started. In 2011, California, Illinois, Maine, Missouri, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, and Washington brought in 327 million pounds of obsolete electronics for recycling.

While a few bumps have cropped up along the way, the market is catching on to green potential as well. Companies understand people put more stock in environmentally friendly products. Apple^®, Samsung™, Hewlett-Packard, and many others have announced eco-friendly policies and goals. Major computer manufacturers have long since jumped on the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT^®) bandwagon, the computer equivalent of ENERGY STAR.

Unfortunately, EPEAT and Apple have hit a snag. In July of 2012, Apple pulled its products from the database, owing to a particularly hard-to-disassemble Retina MacBook Pro^® that fell outside the green certification agency’s guidelines. An iFixit^© breakdown revealed the glued-in battery made the laptop particularly hard to take apart. Within a few days—following the threat of losing hundreds of thousands in bulk sales to governing agencies and corporations—Apple was back in the registry.

When the MacBook Pro in question was given a Gold rating by EPEAT later, iFixit CEO Kyle Wiens and others cried “greenwashing,” or labeling a product green when it really isn’t. The iFixit breakdown was a clear indication the computer could not be easily recycled, but the guidelines upon which EPEAT bases its rating are written in incredibly vague language.

The ostensible purpose of writing the guidelines with such broad language was to avoid hindering innovation. But in this case, the vagueness seems to hurt more than it helps. Many companies, given sufficient “wiggle room,” are likely to choose profits over eco-responsibility. Yet, as the world turns, so does the market, and it is clear that while some manufacturers are quick to speak and slow to act, others are committed to an environmentally responsible future.

What About Abroad?

As the developing world drags itself into the information age, unstable infrastructures, limited availability of resources, and a general lack of understanding are aggravating the challenges of managing e-waste. China—which receives tons of e-waste from the rest of the world—is quickly becoming one of the most prominent countries dealing with these challenges, generating electronic junk at an alarming rate.

Adam Minter, the writer of Shanghai Scrap, suggests that China’s biggest enemy is itself. As the Chinese catch up with the technology explosion, domestic waste is quickly becoming the nation’s biggest source of e-waste.

In India, officials are struggling against the informal recycling sector. Dumping e-waste outright was outlawed in May of 2012, but getting people to recycle through formal channels is proving a challenge. Scrap dealers pay residents by the kilogram to take e-waste away. Legitimate recycling plants won’t pay.

Caught between a desire to do what’s right and what is profitable, these countries (and their citizens) are often left with short-term gains and long-term woes.

Does E-Waste Recycling Do Anything?

That remains to be seen. Getting reports of the actual amount of e-waste going from country to country is tough—especially when both the transport and the waste itself sometimes fail to qualify as “legal.” Under the weight of international attention, the U.S. and some of their OECD counterparts are shaping up. Even non-OECD countries are implementing their own measures to solve the problem.

According to Minter, Guiyu residents complain they can’t get their hands on e-waste from the EU and U.S., thanks to the regulations set in place.

In the informal sector, “recycling” continues. These people rely on e-waste—the thing poisoning them—to stay alive. Burning some computer chips and making acid baths to strip wires are the difference between going to bed hungry or full. The real test will come when people in the Guiyu area understand the damage they’re doing to health and home, and are forced to make some hard choices.

As formal recycling takes its first steps overseas, it’s more important than ever to make sure you know where your “end of life” electronics are finishing their lives—and whether they will add to the problem of global e-waste, or find new life in recycling and reclamation.

The post E-Waste Battle Breakdown appeared first on MetroFax Blog.