豆知识 2011-10-02&10-08 电子设备的故事 (2/3)

 IBM’s own data revealed that its workers making computer chips had 40% more miscarriages¹, and were significantly more likely to die from blood, brain and kidney cancer. The same thing is starting to happen all around the world. It turns out the high-tech² industry isn’t as clean as its image.

 

 

 

So, after its toxic³ trip around the globe, it lands in my hands. I love it for a year or so and then it starts drifting further from its place of honor on my desk or in my pocket. Maybe it spends a little time in my garage before being tossed out. And that brings us to disposal, which we think of as the end of its life. But really it’s just moved on to become part of the mountains of e-waste we make every year.

 

 

 

Remember how these devices were packed with toxic chemicals? Well, there’s a simple rule of production: toxics⁴ in, toxics out! Computers, cell phones, TVs, all this stuff is just waiting to release all their toxics when we throw them away. Some of them are slowly releasing this stuff even while we’re using them.

 

 

 

You know those fat old TVs that people are chucking for high-def flat screens? They each have about five pounds of lead in them. Lead as in lead poisoning.

 

 

 

So, almost all of this e-waste either goes from my garage to a landfill or get shipped overseas to the garage workshop of some guys in Guiyu, China whose job is to recycle it.

 

 

 

I’ve visited a bunch of these so-called recycling operations. Workers, without protective gear, sit on the ground, smashing open electronics to recover the valuable metals inside and chucking or burning the parts no one will pay them for. So, while I’m on to my next gadget⁵, my last gadget is off poisoning families in Guiyu or India or Nigeria.

 

 

 

Each year, we make 25 million tons of e-waste which gets dumped, burned or recycled. And most recycling is anything but green. So, are the geniuses who design these electronics actually evil geniuses? I don’t think so! Because the problems they’re creating are well hidden even from them.

 

 

 

You see the companies they work for keep these human and environmental costs out of sight and off their accounting⁶ books. It’s all about externalizing the truth costs of production.

 

 

 

Instead of companies paying to make their facilities safe, the workers pay with their health. Instead of them paying to redesign using fewer toxics, villagers pay by losing their clean drinking water.

 

 

 

Externalizing costs allow companies to keep designing for the dump. They get the profits and everyone else pays. When we go along with it, it’s like we’re looking at this toxic mess and saying to companies “you made it, but we’ll deal with it.” I’ve got a better idea. How about “you made it, you deal with it?” Doesn’t that make more sense?

1 miscarriages   

流产( miscarriage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Miscarriages are usually caused by abnormal chromosome patterns in the fetus. 流产通常是因为胎儿的染色体异常造成的。
• Criminals go unpunishedareconvicted and are miscarriages of justice. 罪犯会逍遥法外，法律会伤及无辜，审判不公时有发生。

2 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

3 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

4 toxics   

n.毒物（toxic的复数形式）

参考例句：

• Corrosives are generally toxic, so follow the precautions cited in the following section on toxics. 腐蚀剂一般来说是有毒的，所以请遵守下文关于毒品的防范措施。 来自互联网
• Objective To evaluate the diagnostic methods and treatment of gastric ulcer perforating with toxics tubular necrosis. 目的探讨胃溃疡穿孔合并中毒性肾小管坏死的诊断方法与治疗方案。 来自互联网

5 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。

6 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。