Transdisciplinary Design

How to Deal with Old Electronic Products?

Posted on December 15, 2012 | posted by:

I’m an electronic products fan. I immerse in pursuing the various electronic products, which provide me with a high quality, and come to pervade every aspect of my live. My room is full of computers, cellphones, flesh drivers, and tangle USBs. Those electronic products are upgrading at a speed which is unprecedented, new generations emerging constantly. I can’t resist the attraction of new electronic products, so I purchase new products to eliminate old. Then the old products accumulate in the corn pose a major headache for me ——How to deal with them in a proper way?

It does not surprise me to discover that most people keep old electronic products at home because they haven’t figured out better solution. It is a waste of resource if old electronic products don’t be recycled. Every electronic product undergoes a long procedure from design to  production to sell. It costs resources, time and people’s effort. As mentioned in the UN Environment Programme panel, “The world is already running out of cheap and quality source of some essential materials such as oil, copper and gold, which in turn need rising volumes of fuel and water to produce. ”It is enlightening us that natural resources are limited, we should undertake the due obligations of reducing consuming in this booming society.

 

Recently, I present my DC camera to a friend before ordering a refurbished DSLR camera. However, some people don’t like used products, the reason is that used products may have been damaged, and the appearance is unattractive. I consider the refurbished camera as a character that amends his shortcoming. I should give him another chance to accompany with consumer, and to record wonderful moments. Get down to business, as far as I know, some people sell old electronic products in second hand market. Whether the purposes for doing so, they are trying to find an appropriate way to deal with them. Whereas, selling old electronic products to untrustworthy individuals or stores is not a viable permanent solution. The electronic products that have damaged keep being sold, hence becoming an enormous risk to an unknown consumer. China Economic Net reported that a consumer spent 400RMB on a second hand cell phone that was quite cheap. Eventually he got injured because the cell phone suddenly exploded.

 

It is interesting to find that some people declare for protecting the environment but meanwhile, they just throw old electronic products away. Improper disposal old electronic products can’t vanish from face of the earth. They will pollute environment and damage food chains, because they include diverse chemical components such as heavy metal, which is not self-degradation. Then all the harmful elements will gradually infiltrate the soil, and eventually find their way into plants, water, animals and human beings. Therefore, if no protective measures are taken, we will not be shocked to learn that our health will be influenced by pollution.

 

Inspired by Think® chair, which is made of disassembled and recyclable materials, I suggest that the components of electronic products can be partly recycled. It indicates a design opportunity that chooses renewable materials instant of one-time or non-recycled. For consumers, they have resistibility to implement this recycling system, which is far-reaching and makes contribution to society. Additionally, in case second hand markets sell electronic products to consumers regardless of safety the recycling initiations have to get license

 

The improper disposal of old electronic products must be concern because it exerts unfavorable influence on environment, natural resource, and human health. In the long run, we need to take some down-to-earth actions.