Pic: Where Old Computers Go To Die

Ever thought about the final resting place of your Commodore 64 or Apple IIC? Thanks to a rapidly evolving technology industry that relies on a combination of built-in obsolescence coupled with “the next big thing,” those prehistoric precursors to our modern day machines most likely wound up in a landfill somewhere (unless they’re collecting dust in your parents’ attic) still carrying a bevy of toxic materials like mercury, cadmium and lead to their graves.

As the true environmental and human costs of this electronic waste have come to light in the Western world, we’re witnessing the typical “not in my backyard” response, leading to the foisting off of our disposal problems onto the developing world. One of the largest “beneficiaries” of these illegal practices is India, the subject of a photography project by artist Sophie Gerrard  titled E-Wasteland. that explores these very real impacts through powerful imagery and text.

Gerrard explains:

20 – 50 million tons of electronic waste, known  as “e-waste” is generated annually worldwide. In Europe and the US, an old computer is thrown away, on average, every 2 years. In the US for every new computer bought, an old one is thrown away.

Each year, thousands of tons of old computers, mobile phones, batteries, cables, old cameras and other e-waste are dumped in landfill or burned. Thousands more are shipped, illegally, from Europe, the UK and the USA to India and other developing countries for ‘recycling’.  Some is sent as scrap, some as charity donations.

[via boingboing]