proTECH the Earth

I speant what little free time I had this weekend trying to think of something interesting to blog about.  I found my topic in an email from a friend who is very passionate about recycling and the use of resuorces.  The email was interesting in that it talked about several types of technology and how they are wasteful.  The funny thing is the technology is not wastful, once again it is the cojnsumer who is wasteful.  I agreed with many of the comments and have decided to change a few habits of my own.  One habit that I will change will be turning off the computer at night.  I agree with the writer that I can find something else productive to do for the 2 minutes it takes my computer to boot. 

     The most intriquing part of the article was the part about the wastefulness of people who buy things cheap and throw them out when they are outdate or broke.  I see this as a fault of the consumer, but then again I have my example in which the otherday, I was talking with my parents and their archaic VCR (I know it isnt DVD) broke and they wanted to get it fixed.  My dad took it took get looked at and the guy told him it clould be fixed and would cost about $40 for parts and labor.  I told my dad that was great, but for about the same price, maybe cheaper, he could buy a brand new and better VCR.  So, is the wastefulness the fault of the consumer or the fault of the producer.  In this day in age I hate going to Walmart because I see walmart as a neccasary evil.  Walmart has everything you need and they can give it to you for the best price and that is great for me as the struggling college student.  The bad part is that Walmart and big companies in this world are growing and wiping out many other forms of competition and in many ways negativly effecting the economy in many places.

     I also like the comment about the new phnoe or Ipod or tech device.  I am infamous for keeping a cell phone for ever, yet I get super excited when it is time to get a new and better adn faster phone.  I think my generation and genreations to come are going to have to learn to utilize and reuse because our drive to want new and bigger and faster is rampant in many of us. 

     For now I will try to do my small part, and I believe every little bit counts, but to really make changes this effect of technology on the environment has to be looked at by the masses.  The proble at hand will be many people feel about issue like this that someone else will deal witht he problem or better yetthese problems are not in your house or your yard, so they are out of site, out of mind.  This issue seems similar in its magnitude and vastness to that of the issues in the years past with the ozone layer and how we as producers and consumers were destroying a vital and functional necisity of our world.  The amazing thing is look how bad things had to get with that before any substantial changes were made. 

     In closing I have to say that I do recycle, I buy the new lightbulbs and I car pool when possible.  The problem is while I am doing all of that I see many companies and people all around not doing the same things and it makes me wonder how my small efforts will be helpful.  In the end, I guess we have to start somewhere and in this case I am going to lead rather than follow.