Re: [LAU] OT: mineral wars in Congo

From: Philipp Ãœberbacher <hollunder@email-addr-hidden>
Date: Wed Jul 07 2010 - 10:55:15 EEST

Excerpts from Ken Restivo's message of 2010-07-07 07:48:40 +0200:
> On Mon, Jul 05, 2010 at 10:14:47PM +0200, Renato wrote:
> > On Mon, 05 Jul 2010 20:46:32 +0100
> > andy baxter <andy@earthsong.free-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@lists.linuxaudio.org
> > > 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

The only problem with old gear is power consumption. I don't know what's
worse from a purely ecological point of view. Most power is still
generated from non-renewable sources.

-- 
Regards,
Philipp
--
"Wir stehen selbst enttäuscht und sehn betroffen / Den Vorhang zu und alle Fragen offen." Bertolt Brecht, Der gute Mensch von Sezuan
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Received on Wed Jul 7 12:15:05 2010

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