Click here to receive your FREE subscription to Campus Technology
Current News
Can We Do the Same Stuff but Without the Toxic Waste?
12/2/2004
I was reading an interesting article about "green chemistry" the other day. The designer of a new chemical who is a "green chemist" will consider the effects of its use in the world from the moment of its creation, throughout its entire lifecycle in the ecosystem. The development of green chemistry as a worldwide industry is being driven by financial needs from manufacturers, as they face expensive cleanup costs. But it's also driven by university research, and institutions are training the materials engineers and other scientists who can think and operate this new way.
At the same time I came across an article about the disposal problems consumers are facing as millions replace their old television sets with flat-panel displays. Most of us don't think about how to dispose of that metallic box full of toxic wastes that we call our laptop, and which contains our lives. When we do, it's easy to understand that we have a waste disposal problem with the laptop itself. But the problem is vastly greater than that.
Computers are wonderful things. They enliven my life and improve its quality so continuously that my interaction with them on a daily basis could not be described in understandable terms to the average US citizen of, say, 1955. They often do a very good job at what they're built to do. But it's the things that they do which are not intended that need a closer look by, hopefully, "green" designers. Designers who can design manufacturing, packaging, and shipping processes that use less material and energy, and far less toxic materials; designers who will pay attention to the possibly negative effects of humans using computers; and designers who will think through the entire lifecycle of a computer and plan for the reuse of its components in ways that are financially viable and which do not fill up dumps with toxic waste.
Materials Intensity of Manufacture/Lifecycle
People who study the "materials intensity" of various kinds of manufacturing processes perform minute measurements on the materials (metals, plastics, water) and the energy used to manufacture various things. Forget about "toxic" substances entirely for moment; would you have guessed that it takes nearly 600 pounds of fossil fuel and 6400 megajoules of energy to make a single Pentium III computer with monitor? That makes typical information technology equipment approximately 10 times as "dense," in terms of the relative amounts of material to make it, than an automobile.
A lot of that fuel and energy is used in the manufacturing of silicon chips. But there is also the fact that even to get a plastic keyboard, manufacturers have to get raw materials, turn them into the right kind of plastics (with dyes and other possibly toxic things), process them, mold them, and assemble them. Each step takes energy, materials (sometimes toxic ones), and generates its own waste at lifecycle points well before the end-of-life issues arise.
Toxicity During Use
Studies are popping up in the news media about this or that research which hints that, for one example, the more people watch a computer screen the likelier they are to have glaucoma. At the current stage of medical knowledge about such things, I join most of us in dismissing those as "real" problems--at least so far.
Recommended Reading
- Campus Security :: November 14, 2008
:::::: SECURITY SPOTLIGHT
: Smart Phone Security: New Challenges for Road Warriors
:::::: CAMPUS SECURITY NEWS
: SMobile Releases Antivirus To Protect Google Android Phones
: Blue Coat Integrates Network Appliances
: e2Campus Provides Twitter Integration in Emergency Notification System
: Moodle Gets Student Verification Capabilities
: Rave Wireless Adding BlackBerry Devices to Notification Service
: U Miami Trades IPS for Top Layer Security System
: Cornell Hardens Campus Network with Gigabit Wireless Radio Links
: U Pittsburgh Turns to Verizon Business for Automated Notification Services - IT Trends :: Thursday, November 13, 2008
:::::: CASE STUDY
:: Cornell Takes Visual Approach to Data Analysis
:::::: IT NEWS
:: Panopto Launches Hosted Lecture Capture System
:: Microsoft To Add Smooth Streaming in IIS7
:: Agile Solution Provider Rolls Out Java SDK
:: Salem CC To Enhance Self Service with Unified Digital Campus
:: Parallels Desktop 4.0 Get Performance Boost, DirectX 9.0 Support
:: Brandon U To Automate Employment Processes with EmpCenter
:: SMobile Releases Antivirus To Protect Google Android Phones - C-Level View :: November 12, 2008
:::::: EXECUTIVE VIEW
: Delta iTunes U Enhances Learning in a Familiar Web 2.0 Environment
:::::: WORTH NOTING
: Caltech Completes Parking Structure Solar Array
: Schools Take Recruitment Virtual with Online Education Expo
: Blackboard Managed Hosting Rolls Out Virtual Operating Environment
: Higher Ed Help Desk Platform Adds Web 2.0 Tools
: Moodle Gets Student Verification Capabilities - SmartClassroom :: Wednesday, November 12, 2008
:::::: TECHNOLOGY TRENDS
: Microblogging and Relevancy
:::::: NEWS and PRODUCT UPDATES
: Open Source Java Libraries Debut for uPortal
: Dimdim Launches Hosted Virtual Classroom
: ASU School of Engineering Posts 10,000th Lecture with Mediasite
: Lyon College Plans Student Laptop Rollout
: Moodle Gets Student Verification Capabilities - News Update :: Tuesday, November 11, 2008
:::::: NEWS
: Caltech Completes Parking Structure Solar Array
: Schools Take Recruitment Virtual with Online Education Expo
: Salem CC To Enhance Self Service with Unified Digital Campus
: Brandon U To Automate Employment Processes with EmpCenter
: Open Source Java Libraries Debut for uPortal
: ASU and Obsidian Collaboration Seeks to Boost Long-distance Bandwidth
: Blue Coat Integrates Network Appliances
: e2Campus Provides Twitter Integration in Emergency Notification System
: Plagiarism Detection System Adds URL Filtering, Reporting Groups - IT Trends :: Thursday, November 6, 2008
:::::: CASE STUDY
:: Small College Makes Big Leap in Wireless
:::::: IT NEWS
:: Washington U Healthcare Researchers Turn to Virtual Storage
:: Cornell Hardens Campus Network with Gigabit Wireless Radio Links
:: BYU-Idaho Turns to Web-based Facilities Management System
:: U Pittsburgh Turns to Verizon Business for Automated Notification Services
:: Universities Turn to Oracle for Web-based Services
:: Delgado CC Expands Outsourced Support Agreement with Presidium Learning
:: Security Concerns May Slow Cloud Computing Adoption
