Re: [LAU] OT: mineral wars in Congo

On Mon, Jul 05, 2010 at 10:14:47PM +0200, Renato wrote:
> On Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:46:32 +0100
> andy baxter <andy@email-addr-hidden-online.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > On 05/07/10 18:43, Renato wrote:
> > > Hello, I know this might be very OT here, but I think anyone
> > > involved with modern technology should know about this:
> > >
> > > http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/27/opinion/27kristof.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
> > >
> >
> > This is something that's bothered me for some time - pretty much any
> > piece of electronic hardware you use contains minerals which have
> > been dug out of a big hole in the ground somewhere, usually in a poor
> > country and often without respecting the rights of local people and
> > their environment. With some products you can buy fair trade in the
> > hope that this is making some difference at least to the unfair trade
> > practices that are the root of the problem, but there's no such thing
> > as fair trade usb sticks.
> >
> > Seeing as I like computers, I've found this quite painful over the
> > years
> > - every now and again I hear of another story of people being forced
> > off their land or having to live in a polluted environment, and if
> > I'm going to think honestly about it, there's no escaping the fact
> > that the things I buy are part of what's causing these problems.
> >
> > On a personal level the only answer I've come up with is to think
> > before I buy something whether it's something I'll actually use, and
> > try to stick with old hardware as long as possible (e.g. I still use
> > a non-internet mobile phone). Also to give stuff away when I don't
> > need it rather than throw it away.
> >
> > On a wider level I'm not sure what the answer is, but publicising the
> > issue and calling companies to account for their responsibility in
> > the worst cases of social and environmental abuse can only help. So I
> > think it's ok to post stuff like this every now and again.
> >
> > andy
> > _______________________________________________
> > Linux-audio-user mailing list
> > Linux-audio-user@email-addr-hidden
> > http://lists.linuxaudio.org/listinfo/linux-audio-user
>
>
> On this site
>
> http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/
>
> you can send an email to 21 companies asking them to start using
> conflict-free minerals. Specific link:
>
> http://www2.americanprogress.org/t/1684/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=6265
>
> Apart from initiatives like these, I too think the best thing we can do
> is buy new electronics as few as possible, and of course
> selling/buying/exchanging/donating second hand (which in general is
> ecologically far more effective than recycling).
>
> We don't realize it, but actually as customers we have great power:
> we vote everytime we buy something, and companies do give *great*
> value to our votes.
>
> renato
>

Re-use old gear rather than buying new gear! And keep your old gear running longer.

All of which are easily possible thanks to Linux (and, look, we're back on-topic again!).

We don't have Vista-bloat, so if we're environmentally-conscious (or just poor, or both), we can keep old gear afloat nearly forever and put it to some useful purpose, or dig up old hardware and run a Linux kernel on it and make it do something, instead of buying new crap that requires raping the earth and/or indigenous peoples.

-ken
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Received on Wed Jul 7 12:15:01 2010