Me, My Gadget and our E-Waste

One of the exceptional attributes which shines through out our lives as humans is the innate desire to make, stay and grow in relations. Curiously this emotional aspect to bond and attach does not just hold good only for our kin, fellow beings or pet animals but also grows for our material possessions.

“Update: ZeroWaste is now InstaCash

Our lives today are so wired to be continuously working day in day out the long mundane schedules. In an effort not to be completely sucked we try all we can, not be drawn being ordinary. We try to keep our identities intact. Fighting hard for it we seek our own private little spaces. Giving our personal touches these become our own alter ego. Our cherished gadgets devices fill it and become our own extensions suggesting our desires to be unique. We thrill in the possession of our first computer, smart phone, tab our gaming consoles. We guard them, care for them as we see our own reflections in our gadgets.

As long as they stay with us they are source of our happiness. At times when they have troubles functioning we treat them and get them repaired. As all things with lives, these too have a predestined jolly good time with us. They do die out too!

However have you ever wondered what becomes of our lovely buddies at the end of their lives?
Most of us who get much attached, we just stack them up at one of the corners in our homes or offices as a remembrance of our once great camaraderie. After sometime when more and newer things come into our lives we just throw them up or sell these to one of the scrap dealers offering to take these away.

Little do we know that the scrap dealer who has never ever had any relationship with it shreds them out with acid, burns them in the open, throws their little remains in the ponds, rivers and landfills in the remote corners of our cities. Their cries pollute the waters and fill the air. They come back to us haunting our and our kid’s health and the environment we live in.

As a special member they do deserve a proper last rite. They require a final and honorable goodbye as a mark of respect for their happy association with us. As responsible human beings we need to take them to their proper stages of getting respectful ‘merging with elements’. We need to hand them to authorized handlers to get them recycled or refurbished if still some life stays in them so that they can stay worthwhile in other forms. They can be disintegrated with scientific and lawful ways to be in sync with nature.

Whatever ways we adopt these would suggest our own responsibilities towards our emotional partners.
As efficient and authorized handlers ZeroWaste ensures the most proper last stage rites of your old, discarded and dead electronics and electrical appliances.

You may get in touch with us to get your once prized electronic and electrical gadgets get the fitting final goodbye!
At ZeroWaste We Care!

Connect today with #ZeroWaste to know more at

info@getinstacash.in | www.getinstacash.in

Note: This post was originally published in April 2015 and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Do I have E-Waste at home?

E-waste is relatively newer term in India. An average Indian would be very oblivious to the term E-waste, leave alone the proper understanding of the harm these cause to our health and environment.

“Update: ZeroWaste is now InstaCash

There has been little or no effort from the Government and the concerned authorities to create awareness about the nature and magnitude of E-Wastes. The Government can be forgiven for its apathy whence it promulgates rules about E-Waste and makes responsible the stakeholders like the producers and handlers of e-waste to create awareness on the issue. Since it is the lives and common future of all citizens at stake we need to make efforts to educate ourselves and create awareness amongst our social circles.

What is E — Waste?

To contain the grave issue we need to know first what constitutes an E — Waste and other important terms associated with it.

E-waste is the waste electrical and electronic equipment, whole or in part or rejects from their manufacturing and repair process, which are intended to be discarded.

Orphaned Products — Non-branded or assembled electrical and electronic equipment produced by a company, which has closed its operations or has stopped product support.

Electrical and electronic equipment means equipment, which is dependent on electrical currents or electro-magnetic fields to be fully functional.

The Environment Ministry brought in the E — Waste (Management and Handling) Rules, 2011 which became effective from May 2012 in India. These rules have brought in its purview categories of electrical and electronic equipment which contribute to E-Waste.

These categories can be enumerated as under:

IT and telecommunication equipment:

  • Centralized data processing; Mainframes, Minicomputers; Personal computing; Personal computers (Central processing unit with input and output devices), Laptop computers (Central processing unit with input and output devices), Notebook computers, Notepad computers, Printers including cartridges, Copying equipment, Electrical and electronic typewriters, User terminals and systems, Facsimile, Telex, Telephones, Pay telephones, Cordless telephones, Cellular telephones, Answering systems

Consumer electronics:

  • Television sets (including sets based on (Liquid Crystal Display and Light Emitting Diode technology), Refrigerator, Washing Machine, Air-Conditioners excluding centralized air conditioning plants.

If you have any of the above at home or work place kept in a discarded form you have an E-Waste at home. It is very important for you to separate these and hand it over to an authorized E-Waste recycler like Zero Waste in your city.

You may find a Zero Waste Store near you where you can sell them profitably and also become a responsible citizen. To know more Connect with us today at info@getinstacash.in | www.getinstacash.in

Note: This post was originally published in February 2015 and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

E-Waste — the Toxic Legacy of our Digital Age

Countries, developed and developing alike, are faced with the flip side of development. Societies have adapted to technologies in big ways however the requisite awareness and legal framework needs to be spruced up in consonance with the fast pace fallout of technological residues that we are leaving behind. Some years back, the waste wasn’t much and was thought to have been easily assimilated in the environment. Today it poses a great challenge. The rapid penetration of the electronics and electrical gadgets in the huge markets of developing world and the steep pace of technological innovations making yesterday’s latest devices obsolete in the developed world. This has led to the problem of disposing off the e-waste responsibly in sync with the environment we live and for the future we look at.

“Update: ZeroWaste is now InstaCash

The innocuous looking gadgets that we use in our daily life contain elements and compounds which are very harmful to our well being. A broad categorization of these substances inimical to our health can be done as Halogenated Compounds, Heavy & other Metals and Radio Active substances.

Halogenated compounds like CFC (Choloroflourocarbon) PCB (Polychlorinated biphenyls) are present in Cooling units, insulation foams, cable insulations, fire retardants for plastics, condensers, transformers. Heavy metals like Arsenic, Barium, Beryllium, Cadmium, Chromium, Lead, Lithium, Mercury, Nickel, Zinc Sulphide, and Selenium etc are found in CRTs, LEDs, rechargeable batteries, toners, power supply boxes etc. Radio Active substance like Americum is an integral part of medical equipments and fire detectors.

Today we find ourselves awfully placed. As we are making our lives easier and comfortable with the modern electrical and electronic gadgets yet on the other hand we are leaving a toxic legacy. If we do not wake up now, the future will not forgive us for our past. Join ZeroWaste movement in making a healthy and beautiful future.

Note: This post was originally published in February 2015 and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.