1. Technology drives modern society. It is the primary tool of convenience. Humans use it to communicate across the globe for professional and personal purposes. It bridges time and space. We use it to entertain ourselves. It drives the social experience. We use it to feed ourselves, and transport ourselves. It is all encompassing. Technology heals us. Technology can be responsible for harming us too - emotionally, mentally, and physically an aspect of technology often glided over in the mainstream. E-waste or electronic waste is discarded electronics, the casting off the conveniences of modern society. Electronic waste has become a global problem. First world nations, such as the United States, have been guilty of illegal e-waste dumping practices in developing and industrializing nations such as China, India, and Ghana. This happens despite regulations set by the United Nations at the Basel Convention, a treaty the U.S. is not party to, but is primary contributor to this escalating problem, one that will cause harm to all humans. It starts with obsolete technology - a computer or cell phone replaced by a newer model - discarded by the average American citizen in their home or business trash. E-waste can take many routes, some of which are dumped in U.S. landfills, some get illegally shipped out of the country by e-waste brokers and into dump sites. These dumping grounds have become havens for local communities because stripping electronics for parts and metals is lucrative. The method of removal involves burning the electronics and washing it with hydrochloric acid causing pollution from hydrocarbon ash falling into the air, water, and soil, which affects health on all levels of intake. Lead and mercury poisoning have been the result as well as lung cancer. The stripped materials are used to make items for sale back in the U.S., which are contaminated with lead poison. The time has come to confront the consequences of our modern conveniences addressing the negative issues at the individual level for the good of the global community. Electronic Waste in the Global Community is sponsored by the EPA, The City of New Yorks Department of Sanitation, Samsung, and Bank of America.

2. FIND YOUR E-WASTE ROUTE AND SOLUTION The interactive kiosk station at the beginning of the exhibit enables the visitor to enter an address and link it to its local e-waste provider or e-cycler. More specifically an individual can look up the company(s) responsible for handling the collection and discard of their personal electronic waste for their home or business. These findings can be cross referenced with e-Stewards or R2 Solutions certification of responsible e-waste handlers. A link to the Environmental Protection Agency website will also be offered, as well as the Basel Convention Website. The visitor will be able to print out a list of certified e- waste handlers or e-waste companies that have a take back program specific to their address, all on a special recycled exhibition paper. This will give the visitor a useful reference for e-cycling and a memento. Ideally, the interactive kiosks would be commissioned to be built using as many recycled electronics. 3. HOME COMPUTERS ONE OF THE WORLDS MOST RECOGNIZABLE BRANDS, APPLES MAC, AND ONE OF THE MOST COMMON DEVICES FOUND IN HOMES, A PERSONAL COMPUTER. NEW MODELS ARE CONSTANTLY FLOODING THE MARKET REPLACING OLDER TECHNOLOGY GENERATING E- WASTE WITH EACH EVOLUTION, WHICH ARE COMING MORE FREQUENTLY. Apple, Inc. Macintosh Classic Introduced: October 1990 Terminated: September 1992 Plastic, Metal, Silicon Dimensions: 13.2" H x 9.7" W x 11.2" D Apple.com (http://apple-history.com/classic) 4. VIDEO GAME TIMELINE VIDEO GAMES CONSOLES, DEVICES, AND GAME CARTRIDGES ARE CONSTANTLY EVOLVING THERE IS A DEMAND FOR THE LATEST AND GREATEST TECHNOLOGY RESULTING IN A SUBSEQUENT INCREASE IN ELECTRONIC WASTE. Video Game Timeline Education Database Online 2014 Image (Web) Onlineeducation.net 5. DISCARDED TELEVISIONS AND COMPUTERS IN PHILADELPHIA ACCUMULATIVE E-WASTE IN THE U.S. WHERE DOES IT GO? HOW DOES IT DECOMPOSE? HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM OTHER REFUSE? HOW AM I RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENS TO IT WHEN IT LEAVES MY HANDS? MANY DO NOT ASK THESE QUESTIONS AND NEVER SEE NOR THINK ABOUT WHERE THIS REFUSE ENDS UP, AND HOW IT AFFECTS THE WORLD AROUND THEM. Mark Makela Discarded televisions and computers in Philadelphia 2013 Photograph (Web) NYtimes.com 6. THE EXPORT OF E- WASTE Greenpeace, Basel Action Network, 2010 The export of e-waste changewebelievein.blogspot.com 7. CBS NEWS 60 MINUTES: THE ELECTRONIC WASTELAND VIDEO, 12:41 CBSNEWS.COM 60 Minutes: The Electronic Wasteland Where do the millions of computer monitors, cell phones and other electronic refuse our society generates end up? 8. E-WASTE DUMPSITE GHANA JUST A GLIMPSE INTO ONE OF THE MANY ILLEGAL DUMPING GROUNDS IN THIRD WORLD OR DEVELOPING NATIONS. Sipa Press/Rex Features Discarded computer monitors in Ghana 2011 Photograph (Web) Theguardian.com 9. CIRCUIT BOARD BEING COOKED Stuart Isett Circuit Board being cooked Taizhou, China 2007. Photograph (Web) Ban.org Guiyu, China e-waste is melted down for reuse creating toxic fumes and raining hydrocarbon ash into the area. This pollutes the air, soil, and water supply. 10. THE IMPACT OF E-WASTE THE DAMAGING ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF E-WASTE IS IMMENSE BOTH SHORT AND LONG TERM. ALL ELECTRONIC COMPONENTS CONTAIN A NUMBER OF CONTAMINANTS WHICH, IF PLACED IN LANDFILL SITE, EVENTUALLY LEACH INTO THE EARTH AND AIR WITH SERIOUS POTENTIAL REPERCUSSIONS. E-WASTE IS HIGHLY TOXIC IF NOT DISPOSED OF EFFECTIVELY. E- WASTE CONNECTED HEALTH RISKS MAY RESULT FROM DIRECT CONTACT WITH HARMFUL MATERIALS SUCH AS LEAD, CADMIUM, CHROMIUM, BROMINATED FLAME RETARDANTS OR POLYCHLORINATED BIPHENYLS (PCBS), FROM INHALATION OF TOXIC FUMES AS WELLAS FROM ACCUMULATION OF CHEMICALS IN SOIL, WATER AND ULTIMATELY THE FOOD CHAIN. IN ADDITION TO THE HAZARDOUS COMPONENTS BEING PROCESSED, E-WASTE CAN GIVE RISE TO A NUMBER OF TOXIC BY-PRODUCTS LIKELY TO AFFECT HUMAN HEALTH. UN The Impact of E-waste EGreen 2014 Image (Web) egreen.co.nz 11. AT THE PLAYGROUND AGBOGBLOSHIE, GHANA IS A PLAYGROUND FOR THIS CHILD, KWABENA LABOBE, AGE 10. HIS PARENTS ARE NOT ABLE TO SEND HIM TO SCHOOL AND FORBID HIM TO BURN E-WASTE. Kevin McElvaney At the Playground Agbogbloshie, Ghana 2014 Photograph (Web) Foxnews.com 12. AN ELECTRONICS WASTE RECYCLER HANDLES CIRCUIT BOARDS INDIA AN ELECTRONICS WASTE RECYCLER HANDLES CIRCUIT BOARDS WHICH HAVE BEEN PARTIALLY DISMANTLED. LEAD, MERCURY, ARSENIC AND OTHER TOXIC ELEMENTS ARE RELEASED WHEN THESE ELECTRONICS ARE BROKEN DOWN. Sean Gallagher An electronics waste recycler handles circuit boards India, 2013 Photograph (Web) pulitzercenter.org 13. YOUNG MEN IN GHANA WHO SHOULD BE IN SCHOOL, WORK IN THE E-WASTE DUMPSITE AMID THE TOXICITY. Alliance/dpa Untitled Agbogbloshie, Ghana 2014 Photograph (Web) dw.de (Deutsch Well) 14. How e-waste affects you in the U.S. Items such as this bracelet have been the subject of recall because of toxic materials used to make it born out of e- waste dumpsites Consumer Product Safety Recalled Reebok Bracelet 2006 Image (Web) Courtesy of Ashleys Bog http://health-e-waste.blogspot.com 15. FEATHER HOW E-WASTE CAN BECOME ART. THE ARTIST RECYCLED ELECTRONICS TO CREATE THIS ART PIECE. ITS NOT TOXIC. Peter McFarlane Feather 2013 Sculpture: Circuit board and copper wire (Web) petermcfarlane.com 16. THE BINARY CHAIR FUNCTIONAL ART MADE COMPLETELY FROM RECYCLED COMPUTER PARTS. Benjamin Rollin Caldwell The Binary Chair 2013 Furniture: Recycled computer parts, foam (Web) Junk-Culture.com 17. Please be conscious. Please be aware. Please be considerate. Please think twice before purchasing new technology and discarding the old model. Please help, yourself. 18. Works Cited: Alliance/ dpa. Untitled.2014. Photograph. Deutsche Welle., 21 April 2014. http://www.dw.de/home-for-some-e-waste-dump-for-the-world/a- 17313876. Caldwell, Benjamin Rollin. The Binary Chair. Furniture. .Junk-Culture.com, 9 December 2013. Web. 12 April 2014. http://www.junk- culture.com/2013_12_01_archive.html. Consumer Product Safety. Recalled Reebok Bracelet. 2006. Image. Ashelys Blog 19 November 2009. Web. 21 April 2014. http://health-e- waste.blogspot.com/2009/11/what-do-jewelry-and-e-waste-have-in.html. "The Electronic Wasteland." 60 Minutes. CBS. CBSnews.com. 18 Nov. 2008. Television. http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/the-electronic- wasteland/. Gallagher, Sean. An electronics waste recycler handles circuit boards. 2013. Photograph. Pulitzer Center, 16 Jan. 2014. Web. 24 March 2014. http://pulitzercenter.org/reporting/asia-india-electronic-waste-toxic-environment. Greenpeace, Basel Action Network. Export of e-waste. 2010. changewebelievein.blogspot.com.Image, Jenkins D. Mercado Blog, 12 July, 2012. http://changewebelievein.blogspot.com/2012/07/electronic-waste-in-ghana-blessing-with.html. Isett, Stuart. Circuit Board being cooked. 2007. Photograph. Ban.org. Web. 21 April. 2014. http://ban.org/ban_news/2007/070711_toxic_jewelry_imports_pic2.html. Kaplan, Jeremy. At the Playground. 2014. Photograph. Foxnews.com. Web. 23 March 2014. http://www.foxnews.com/tech/slideshow/2014/03/06/in-pictures-ghana-e-waste-disaster/?intcmp=related#/slide/at-the-playground. Macintosh Classic. Apple-history.com. Glen Stanford, 2005. Web. 20 March 2014. http://www.apple-history.com/classic. Makela, Mark. Discarded televisions and computers in Philadelphia. Photograph. NYT.com, 18 March 2013. Web. 11 April 2014. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/us/disposal-of-older-monitors-leaves-a-hazardous-trail.html?pagewanted=all. McFarlane, Peter. Feather. 2013. Sculpture. petermcfarlance.com. Wed. 23 March 2014. http://petermcfarlane.com/Peter%20Macfarlane%20web%20site/03circuit_board.php#. Sipa Press/Rex Features. Discarded computer monitors in Ghana. 2011. Photograph. Web. 21 April 2014. http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/electronic-waste-developing-world. UN Health Site. "Impact of E-waste." Image.. EGreen 2014. Web. 12 April 2014. http://egreen.co.nz/the-impact-of-ewaste/. Unknown. "Video Game Timeline." Photograph. Onlineeducation.net. Education Database Online 2014. Web. 12 April 2014. http://www.onlineeducation.net/videogame_timeline.