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E-Wasting Away in China

While the media ride their new lead-painted hobbyhorse—the danger of Chinese wares—spare a thought for Chinese workers dying to dispose of millions of tons of our toxic crap

By Terry J. Allen

The highway of poisoned products that runs from China to the United States is not a one-way street. America ships China up to 80 percent of U.S. electronic waste—discarded computers, cell phones, TVs, etc. Last year alone, the United States exported enough e-waste to cover a football field and rise a mile into the sky. So while the media ride… return to article

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    “Now it is Americans who are addicted to Chinese junk. And our own government policies and corporations are the ones stoking the jones. Slick marketing and consumer fetishism push Americans to buy the latest, lightest, biggest, smallest, fastest, trendiest items. And even if you are not hooked on the latest gadgets, repairs or upgrades are impractical. The half billion computers we trashed in the last decade have to go somewhere, and shipping them to China and other poor nations is a win-win solution for Chinese and U.S. industry.”
    and…
    “America’s insatiable appetite for cheap Chinese goods has created a trade deficit that topped $233 billion last year. “

    This is not anything new — since the mid-1980s — Chinese manufactured goods have been unfairly competing with ours unencumbered by OSHA, EPA or any other safety regulations which once protected us.

    However, I once again resent Terry Allen’s primarily piling the blame on us. There is little we can do to regulate Chinese willingness to ignore the hazards mentioned in this story. For a country still using coal as a main source of energy who will worry about or even notice the acrid smell of acid fumes and burning plastic.

    Americans are not buying Chinese (and other cheap labor) goods by choice — it is not advertising which entices our purchases — there are no options open to us anymore. My latest U.S. flag came from China. Even the label: Made in the USA is not a guaranty that it is any more than assembled here.

    It is not only Chinese boats which should be labeled “junk.”

    United States Posted by whattheheck on Oct 31, 2007 at 7:51 AM
    Page 1 of 1 pages

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