January 8, 2008

CES: An Orgy Of Poison?

by Piers Fawkes in Environmental, Electronics & Gadgets, Design

Another year, another electronics and gadgets conference that is out of whack with modern concerns around sustainability and the planet. The C.E.S. is an arrogant refusal to admit to the problems the electronics industry has created in terms of material waste, poisonous polution, energy waste and over-consumption.

Our man on the ground, Scott Burns, tells us that although some brands there might be talking about sustainability or at at least the advancement in technology in allowing devices to perform more with less power, the show itself is anything but green (aside from the mass transit and buses).

Ironically, CES says that it is reducing its own impact on the environment wherever it can - but it doesn’t seem to register that it’s actually contributing to a greater problem than the number of nonrecycled water bottles left over at the end of the show.

The fact is that the CES is another gory broadcast of all the products we don’t really need and that we’ll have to replace very soon. It’s fueled by the blogs like Engadget and magazines like Wired that hype the consumption of this plastic-metal and ignore any modern notions towards sustainability.

Wired sadly continues to talk double standards - their magazines praise 100mpg cars, their retail projects sell 21mpg cars and their coverage of the CES with 50+ posts, Wired fails to review the show with any eco-concern that can often be found in the pages of its magazine.

In the New York Times, this column by Brad Stone is just pointless geek masturbation to get eyeballs to the page - rather than what is needed: an engaging debate about why the hell C.E.S. is allowed to continue as it is without significant criticism of the companies who showcase there.

And as for Engadget… well, it’s always been a geek-porn site feeding the frenzy - maybe it’s time it had a conscience?

Can personal technology ever be sustainable? We asked the organizers of a Greener Gadgets conference that takes place in 2008 to comment on the industry and whether there really could be a green gadget. Marc Alt told PSFK:

The consumer electronics industry will never will be green, like any process and manufacturing industries. Ultimately, NOTHING newly manufactured in any industry IS green, there is always some environmental impact involved at some point in a product’s lifecycle, even if it is offset, reduced, ethically sourced, fair-traded, and green-e certified, etc. The good news is that many companies in the sector, both big and small, are beginning to turn their attention to the state of the planet.

At Greener Gadgets we will highlight promising developments in materials research, toxicity reduction and mitigation, take-back, recovery and recycling programs, reduced energy use, dematerialization (turning a product into a service), extended producer responsibility and other sustainability trends in the consumer electronics industry. We are excited that companies of the scale of Nokia and HP are focusing their attention on responsible recycling and take-back of their products, and that an increased attention to life-cycle and supply chain issues are coming to the forefront of design and engineering of consumer electronics.

We asked Jill Fehrenbacher, co-organizer of the Greener Gadgets conference and wife of the founder and editor of Engadget* why the electronics industry avoided the sustainability message. She said:

Yes, what you are saying is completely true and exactly the problem we are trying to tackle. The consumer electronics industry - with its toxic chemicals, conspicuous consumption and carefully planned obsolescence - is probably the least green industry on the planet. But there are certainly easy steps that can be taken to make things a bit greener: reducing energy consumption, eliminating toxic chemicals, designing products with longer lifecycles, and designing recycling and takeback into product lifecycles. This is why our conference is called ‘Greener Gadgets’ instead of ‘Green Gadgets’. Since so many companies are trying to use green as a marketing message these days, we wanted to investigate the real steps that companies are actually taking to try to improve the environmental impact of their products.

One of the problems we guess is that many electronics come from Asian countries and our first hand experience of working with them is that green and/or sustainability isn’t really on the radar there, despite what we hope. Until there’s a radical public shift in attitudes towards green in Asia, the companies there aren’t going to make many concessions to an American or European audience that might say they care but actually can’t keep their hands off the latest version of the next-big shiny toy.

(* sorry Jill/Peter, had to throw that one in - kinda ironic, no?)

13 Responses to “CES: An Orgy Of Poison?”

James P.
Posted from: 24.8.48.134
January 9th, 2008 at 12:26 am

Its interesting that this rant shows up just after your site covers the release of a new supersonic jet. I’d guess that far fewer people need one of those jets, than are benefited by the products that are promoted at this trade show. I’ll attribute this editorial discrepancy to a, “Do what we say, not what we do,” policy. I am neither the greenest person nor the most polluting person on the planet, and I readily acknowledge this fact. Don’t act like you’re allied with treehuggers and then pander to the jet set crowd.
Matthew Palmer
Posted from: 193.203.82.34
January 9th, 2008 at 3:13 am

You beat me to it, James P. I agree wholeheartedly with your comment. C’mon PSFK - if you’re going to rant about stuff so venomously, at least be consistent in your editorial point of view.
Matthew K
Posted from: 85.158.137.195
January 9th, 2008 at 3:57 am

I’m also getting a little tired of PSFK’s over the top point of view on green issues. Yes, the geeks and hardware techs should defintely start to think greener (we all should) but without this industry none of us would have the PCs/Macs/iPhones/Blackberries to read and interact with PFSK’s site - and fuel your whole business. Stop acting like the green crusader. Truth is no-one is a hero in this space.
Piers Fawkes
Posted from: 68.173.29.189
January 9th, 2008 at 10:07 am

Guys,

Our job is to inspire our readers to make change for the better.

That’s our editorial opinion and we’ll write about what we like. It’s not as if you’re paying, is it?

We’ll write about jets because it could signify a return to a different way of business travel. We’re not celebrating the fact - we’re just highlighting the return of supersonic travel. The ecological damage that the electronics industry creates is going to be rather larger than a few jets.
dan smyth
Posted from: 62.140.196.148
January 9th, 2008 at 12:27 pm

Here here, who’s blog is it anyway?
Drew
Posted from: 63.82.250.2
January 9th, 2008 at 4:49 pm

Point taken Piers, but I think it might be a bit of an overstatement to say the conference is “out of whack with modern concerns around sustainability and the planet.”

As unpleasant as it may be, perhaps CES is the symptom, not the sickness. A symptom showing that green may not yet be a mass market concern.

On a side note: the fact that Vegas on a day to day basis is just as much to be worried about from an environmental/sustainability standpoint.
Marilyn
Posted from: 71.106.22.42
January 9th, 2008 at 7:23 pm

wow. orgy of poison, personal stabs at marital/green irony, and “pointless geek masturbation”.

“Ironically, CES says that it is reducing its own impact on the environment wherever it can - but it doesn’t seem to register that it’s actually contributing to a greater problem than the number of nonrecycled water bottles left over at the end of the show.”

Is it really that ironic? If they are infact reducing in SOME ways, which still puts them ahead of running the show like always an not doing that?

I used to love reading PSFK to hunt through the debris for glimpses of actual trend reporting, but i’m sad to see that this is what its come down to! So which companies and products DID you guys like and admire from “the C.E.S.”?

And way to blame asia ~
James P.
Posted from: 24.8.48.134
January 9th, 2008 at 9:58 pm

Yes, you can write about whatever like. I’m an ardent supporter of free speech. I just don’t think that bashing a good portion of your readership by saying that they are indulging in poison, is particularly wise. I also try to inspire others to think creatively on a daily basis. Choosing an easy target for that obviously needs some green integration, like the CES show, is indicative that a there is a lack creativity.

I appreciate your efforts and understand the need to push in a sometimes difficult direction. I would just expect something that offers solutions instead of only laying problems to bare. Think creatively, people! That is your stated objective, no?
mike h
Posted from: 71.185.133.157
January 12th, 2008 at 1:13 pm

I love psfk and I loved the post. Spot on. And just because there are hints of inconsistencies, it doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be said. The cult of technology has no sense of its real impact on the world around it. Its all fun and iPhones until it shows up in your backyard for you to sort through for pennies and for you and you children to get sick from.

I mentioned it on my blog: http://misteriotremendum.sevenandsix.com/2008/01/12/bravo-psfk-piers-fawkes-ces-an-orgy-of-poison/
Tim
Posted from: 86.161.146.0
January 14th, 2008 at 10:53 am

Wow: “…we’ll write about what we like. It’s not as if you’re paying, is it?”. No, that’s right, we’re not paying. But if you treat us like that we won’t be reading either.
Jeremy
Posted from: 124.191.88.177
January 24th, 2008 at 7:30 am

Brilliant post as usual.

I don’t generally buy the ‘editorial inconsistency’ argument.

I frankly enjoy reading your blog daily to keep me aware of developments in industries/areas that otherwise would escape my attention.
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