7 Jul
2010
7 Jul
'10
7:48 a.m.
On Mon, Jul 05, 2010 at 10:14:47PM +0200, Renato wrote:
On Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:46:32 +0100
andy baxter <andy(a)earthsong.free-online.co.uk> wrote:
Re-use old gear rather than buying new gear! And keep your old gear running longer.
All of which are easily possible thanks to Linux (and, look, we're back on-topic
again!).
We don't have Vista-bloat, so if we're environmentally-conscious (or just poor, or
both), we can keep old gear afloat nearly forever and put it to some useful purpose, or
dig up old hardware and run a Linux kernel on it and make it do something, instead of
buying new crap that requires raping the earth and/or indigenous peoples.
-ken
On 05/07/10 18:43, Renato wrote:
On this site
http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/
you can send an email to 21 companies asking them to start using
conflict-free minerals. Specific link:
http://www2.americanprogress.org/t/1684/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=6265
Apart from initiatives like these, I too think the best thing we can do
is buy new electronics as few as possible, and of course
selling/buying/exchanging/donating second hand (which in general is
ecologically far more effective than recycling).
We don't realize it, but actually as customers we have great power:
we vote everytime we buy something, and companies do give *great*
value to our votes.
renato
Hello, I know this might be very OT here, but I
think anyone
involved with modern technology should know about this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/opinion/27kristof.html?_r=1&partner=r…
This is something that's bothered me for some time - pretty much any
piece of electronic hardware you use contains minerals which have
been dug out of a big hole in the ground somewhere, usually in a poor
country and often without respecting the rights of local people and
their environment. With some products you can buy fair trade in the
hope that this is making some difference at least to the unfair trade
practices that are the root of the problem, but there's no such thing
as fair trade usb sticks.
Seeing as I like computers, I've found this quite painful over the
years
- every now and again I hear of another story of people being forced
off their land or having to live in a polluted environment, and if
I'm going to think honestly about it, there's no escaping the fact
that the things I buy are part of what's causing these problems.
On a personal level the only answer I've come up with is to think
before I buy something whether it's something I'll actually use, and
try to stick with old hardware as long as possible (e.g. I still use
a non-internet mobile phone). Also to give stuff away when I don't
need it rather than throw it away.
On a wider level I'm not sure what the answer is, but publicising the
issue and calling companies to account for their responsibility in
the worst cases of social and environmental abuse can only help. So I
think it's ok to post stuff like this every now and again.
andy
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