The stories of stuff clip on e-waste challenges consumers and designers to think more critically about where their products are coming from and where they are going and what consequences this process has for the environment and for society. The issue of e-waste is a very complex and important issue that is often overlooked because of the out-of-sight, out-of-mind mentality.
About a year ago, I watched a Frontline documentary on e-waste . It is shocking to see where this waste is ending up and the detrimental health and economic effects that it is having on poor populations. The documentary focused specifically on India and China as sites for e-waste dumps. People working in these areas are either unaware of the health consequences or have no other choice to make money than to work in these areas.
A second issue with e-waste is the problem of files still existing with personal or confidential information. Even though the computer may no longer work, the harddrive can still contain this kind of information. This is a problem regarding privacy and identity theft.
The root of the problem is that the designs for these electronics are being done by corporation that are not required to internalize these costs into their business models. The woman in the video calls for extended producer responsibility. Internalizing the costs would surely help to push for more sustainable design. How this can be done is still a question that remains to be answered.