Laurie, exactly! Social media is a great way for companies that want to reach masses. If only they started campaigns pro-recycling (I haven't seen any, and you?) I am sure in no time good results could be achieved.
I'm grateful for the attention and efforts being applied to the "green." Back in my reporter days I used to ask QC and warehouse managers about this all the time and they predicted this day would come. One proactive company made a couple of attempts to eliminate expensive plastics from its packaging area, using biodegradable material to replace styro-foam peanuts. Only problem was the newer material contained corn starch which attracted some undesirable critters that were not in the OEM's specs. They paid the exterminator's bill and went back to the pink ESD-safe material.
Thanks, Susan, for taking the time to post. Yes, Facebook and YouTube are two free services that electronics companies can tap to get started, so it makes sense for even for small companies with tiny or non-existent marketing budgets to get involved by providing consumers with tips on how to recycle or perhaps highlight the content in their components or platforms. They can target the message to consumers or the businesses that have the potential to use their products. Even if one person sees the video and gets the message it's worth the company's time because of the positive branding it can spark.
"Recycling" word is being hyped or being used in maximum along with GREEN. all the countries are aiming at recycling most of the materials it can be plastics, papers electronic components everything and they are also finding different techniques to recycle them. many asian companies have started to recycle the water at a great extent within the company this initiative has been taking place for a long time now its high time that we need to protect our nation each one of us should involve in campaigns, start advertising in companies and creat awareness.
Excellent article. Thanks for posting the link to the short film. I've given it some thought and I couldn't come up with any memory of advertising or campaign about educating the public in recycling electronics.
It will be great to follow your follow-up report on this article. We all could help a little by passing this on, posting it on FB, for instance, making people more aware of the importance of the matter.
A very good initiative to educate people via movie. Is it out now? Do you have the link to watch it. I would love to watch it. Yes electronics touches everyone's life very closely. The amount of waste electronics industry would produce is huge and proper disposal is necessary. Its important to educate people and more importantly make provision where they can dispose off these tech wastes. I was reading a story few months back where many people died because they didnt know the product they were dealing with was radioactive and there is a different procedure to dispose it. They just treated it like any other scrap.
I remember one of the rechargeable battery recycling program, which turned out to be pretty successful ! It was called Call2Recycle and can be found at www.mycall2recycle.com Actually, several of the major consumer electronics companies including Sony and Samsung have been running similar take-back campaigns as that of Nokia. I am not too sure if they have put as many drop off points as them, but they certainly made news couple of years back about the initiatives. I think, in some of the cases, recycling might be driven by a cost-benefit analysis where useful raw-material could be recovered from the equipment. I would be more concerned about the material used in components which have limited re-use. People who actually notice the correct way of disposal are few, and this could be a health hazard for the society.
I really think that making things more lasting is not a solution because of obsolesces. Technical advances are simple advances and things become more useful in many ways. The aim would be to make things less polluting, recyclable and biodegradable. One obvious place to start is education and recycling places accessibility. Almost all electronic accessories like wall-brick power supplies, computer mice and the like have stamps somewhere on their cases to recycle and not to dispose to garbage cans. Who is really looking at it? A few people per 1000 maybe do. My community has used batteries collection and because it is California law everyone is informed and knows where drop-off places are. More power to it.
I know it sounds like wishful thinking, Ms. Daisy, but it seems that the manufacturers of raw materials need to chime in and develop these products in a eco-friendly way. The problem I see is that eco-friendly ways are way too expensive, which increases the cost for production and shrinks profits.
Any manufacturers out there have a solution or at least a bud or seed of a solution that we can discuss?
I had an interesting conversation last night at dinner with someone who owns a plastics distributor. I live in southern California. Most manufacturing moved out of So-Cal (local lingo for southern California) long ago because of strict guidelines. Some of the plants, as you know, moved to China. But what if these manufacturers spent time on researching eco-friendly reusable products or materials that dissolve and become (good) food for Mother Earth rather than poison? Maybe they do or did.
EBN Dialogue enables and encourages you to participate in live chats with notable leaders and luminaries. Not only editors and journalists, but the entire EBN community is able to comment and ask questions. Listed below are upcoming and archived chats.
Archived Dialogues
Thailand Stages a Comeback Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Euro-Crisis: What It Means for High-Tech Firms Join EBN Editor in Chief Bolaji Ojo and Contributing Editor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday, July 12, at 10:00 a.m. EDT for a Live Chat on high-tech and Europe's economic difficulties.
Microsoft Surface: Potential Winners & Losers What are the implications for the electronics industry supply chain of Microsoft Corp.'s decision to launch its own tablet PC? Join industry veteran and EE Times' systems and OEM expert Rick Merritt on Tuesday, July 3, at 12:00 pm EDT for a Live Chat on this subject.
Join EBN contributor Jennifer Baljko on Thursday August 23, 2012, at 11:00 a.m. EST for a live chat on how electronic manufacturers in Thailand have shored up their supply chain to reduce the impact of future natural disasters.
Peter Drucker famously said "Trying to predict the future is like trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window." Yet in the razor's-edge world of electronics—with a lean supply chain and just-in-time demands—the need to know the future is vital.
You've heard the saying "the No. 1 supply chain risk is your people." That hasn't always been the case. But today's complex global supply chain requires a new type of multitalented employee. It's one who understands, finance, marketing, economics, is savvy with technology, graceful with relationships and can think analytically.
Where are these people? Are universities properly preparing the next generation supply chain professionals? How do train your existing workforce for these new, demanding positions?
Brian Fuller, editor-in-chief of EBN, will lead a 60-minute Avnet Velocity panel discussion that will ask and answer these and other questions swirling around today's supply-chain talent challenges.
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