With each passing day it is getting harder for us to imagine a world that is devoid of the television, laptop, PC, mobile phone and even the MP3 players and the gaming consoles. Sure, not everyone sports them al, but most of us are addicted to electronic gadgets and gladly enjoy the comfort and convenience they have to offer.

The problem though does not crop up from the usage, but the fact that you ultimately need to throw them away after they become old and less fashionable. And acccording to the Environmental Protection Agency, 1.5 million to 1.9 million tons of electronic waste was deposited in U.S. landfills in 2005. So is there a better way to deal with this looming hazard for the planet? Sure thing!

The problem is that e-waste contains hazardous chemicals and toxic metals such as flame retardants, arsenic, mercury and cadmium; making it lethal. With that in mind, initiatives like the European Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) are taking shape in Europe to force consumers to recycle them responsibly and to dispose them in a manner that does the least damage to environment.

There are many companie’s that offer WEEE Compliance schemes and pick up trash from your doorstep so that it is dealt with in the appropriate fashion. This might cost you a tad bit, but it’s very little compare to what ill-disposed electronic waste causes to the planet. And of course you can always choose to donate the waste to your local church or school community which will gladly use your old laptop or even mobile and put it to good use.

Since most of us discard the old gadgets for new ones just to stay in style or because our technical requirements have outgrown the product, there is no reason why someone else could not use your perfectly good old device. And have you thought of those computer recycling programs offered by companies which are selling the products in the first place? You can mail your old monitors and systems back to the producer and most often they will deal with that responsibly.

A cool new initiative is being offered by Apple which appeals a lot to all the techno geeks who end up creating most of the electronic trash. Apple is willing to take in any old mobile phone or MP3 player and it will even send you the packaging.

Ilegally and obviously not morally correct to dispose off electronic waste in any other fashion, US and Europe are waking up to the fact, with large developing nations like China and India are turning into hot beds for poorly disposed electronic waste.

Images by maiac and zilpho

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King Bauduin Base was closed some forty years ago.

On Feb. 15th Belgium inaugurated Princess Elisabeth Base - a scientific research station that combines high-end technologies and a total respect for the environment.

The base is a zero-emission station. It was built entirely during the International Polar Year, which was, well, um, I don’t know when it was. How come these International Years happen and nobody knows?

Still, kudos to Belgium for setting up shop at the bottom of the world and doing it with minimum harm now and in the future to the environment.

Ho hum.

Some ‘top scientists’ are predicting “global warming is likely to worsen faster and cause more environmental damage than has been predicted.”

“Unless aggressive measures are taken, the greenhouse gases will accumulate faster than expected in the Earth’s atmosphere, increasing the danger of irreversible climate change by the end of the century, a leading climate scientist of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).”

Climate Change 2007 warned of severe global climate change, disastrous impacts, floods, forest fires and desertification.

The newest report says that CC2007 was too optimistic.

Mitigating global warming via multiple approaches are urged. “Reductions in desertification rates reduce the likelihood of drought in arid zones; reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions will be particularly effective in industrialized nations, the IPCC assessment said.”

Well, I’m really motivated now, aren’t you?

Ho hum.

Orders for Honda Motor Co.’s environmentally friendly ultra fuel-efficient hybrid Insight hatchback have topped 10,000 units in just 10 days. The figure is double and then some the monthly sales goal set for the five-door vehicle.

Honda Insight Hybrid

The Insight base model of the Insight goes for $21,000 compared with $26,000 for the base model of Toyota Motor Corp.’s Prius hybrid hatchback.

It’s all about the price, industry analysts said.

Question – would you buy a fuel-efficient hybrid knowing it’s better for the environment even you have to drive it 10 years to get your money back out of it in savings?

Let us hear from you.

A marine census has documented 7,500 species in the Antarctic and 5,500 in the Arctic. Several hundred species are even new to science.

“The textbooks have said there is less diversity at the poles than the tropics, but we found astonishing richness of marine life in the Antarctic and Arctic oceans,” says a researcher from the Australian Antarctic Division. “We are rewriting the textbooks.”

Researchers were surprised to discover dozens of species common to both polar seas. Even they are separated by nearly 7,000 miles (11,000 kilometers), they are the same on the top and bottom of the planet. Now, how’d that happen?

The new discoveries were primarily simpler life – invertebrates. “Researchers found sea spider species as big as a human hand, and tiny, shrimp-like crustaceans in the Arctic basin that live at a depth of 9,850 feet (3,000 meters).” (more…)

There’s a reason why some species of crocodiles are on the endangered species list or are likely to wind up there before too long. There may be 1.3 billion reasons.

Chefs in China’s Canton region (the South) cook each part of the reptile in various ways with different herbs. In the end the whole dismembered reptile tastes like bits of fish, chicken and pork respectively. Yum!

Aussies say wild crocs taste like fish while farmed crocs taste like chicken. Perhaps, because the crocodiles are fed chickens when in captivity and feast on fish in the wild.

“Braised crocodile belly tastes like Hong Kong style roast pork—full of flavor, with a thin layer of slightly crunchy skin and layers of lean meat sandwiched between a fine layer of fat.” Anybody hungry?

My favorite crocodile joke – What did the one crocodile say to the other after eating the missionary?

Answer – yum, I love these. They are tender on the outside and crunchy on the inside.

No matter who or what caused it – human or natural causes, global warming is a fact and we should do our best to prevent any of “deadly” effects. With that in mind a group of artists from England came up with an interesting public art project meant bring awareness into our lives. Dubbed the Watermarks project, it uses official UK government predictions and large-scale projections to show possible water levels of a potential future flooding onto buildings. Now in Bristol, we’d definitely love to see the Watermarks caravan in New York or San Francisco. It has an amazing message isn’t it? [via StyleCrave]

Chinese scientists at Shanghai Jiao Tong University have recently found that by replicating the structure of the wings of the Papilio Paris butterfly, they can enhance the efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSCs).

The species of Papilio Paris live in very cold conditions and sustain their body temperature by trapping sun’s heat using a special design pattern on their wings. On examination, researchers have found that the honeycomb-like microstructure of the wings is responsible for that, and they are now trying hard to translate it into a pattern at a micro level.

While the process is neither easy nor yet successful, this will help usher the stagnant technology of the dye-sensitized solar cells which are nowhere close to matching the efficiency of the photovoltaic solar cells. However, researchers are hoping that this new stroke of inspiration will soon change that.

Another step forward or just, money spent on ‘research’?

[via CleanTechnica]

Speed bumps are not really something you would be raving about if you happen to own a vehicle, but the latest “models” in London are all set to change that conventional perception.

The new speed bumps designed by Peter Hughes and will reap free energy every time wheels roll over them. With a cost from £21,000 to £55,000 depending on size – yes, they don’t come in cheap, the metallic knob-like humps manage to earn their value back in just about an year.

Designed to tap the kinetic energy generated by vehicles that roll over constantly, the new technology uses the weight of the car to displace the metal plates underneath and set the wheel rolling to convert mechanical work into energy. Producing between £1 and £3.60 of energy an hour (each) for up to 16 hours a day, the energy will be used to power up street lights and road signs for a mile long.

Some £150,000 of funding has already been approved by the city council, so expect to see them pretty soon while you drive around London. [via EcoWorldly]

People aren’t the only thing we lose in fires that we care about.

Kangaroo corpses can be seen scattered by the roadsides. Wombats emerge from their underground burrows to find blackened earth and no food. Wildlife rescue officials say millions of animals likely perished in the inferno. The kangaroos were overwhelmed by flames and smoke when attempting to flee. Kangaroos that survived suffer from burned feet.. After escaping they likely circled back to their homes thus singeing their feet.

Wombats that hid managed to survive the blazes, but if they are not rescued, they face a slow and certain death because their food supply gone.

(more…)