Electronics are temporary. The device you're using to read this blog is a short-term passenger that has joined you for a few years (at best) on your journey through life. It will not last. It will soon die.
Look at your life. How many of the electronics in your life are less than a year old? How many of those replaced previous versions of similar electronics? And how many electronics do you own that are older than five years? Ten years? Probably not many.
I suspect your fridge might be over ten years old. And maybe your electric cooker. But other than that? You computer is almost certainly under ten years, and probably under five (an exception being my father, whose '92 Amiga is almost 20). The lightbulbs in your house will be less than ten, unless you're lucky enough to have gotten energy-saving bulbs early. Then, there's just a chance they'll be ten - but they'll be dying soon. If you have a ten-year-old TV in the house, it's probably in the attic. The TV(s) in use are flat-screen, bought in the last three years. If you're like many Torontonians, you put your old CRT out on the street, a piece of worthless junk. And your phone is probably under two years old. A four-year-old phone is almost a museum piece!
All this demonstrates the temporary nature of electronics. Humans have been around for 2 million years. Homo sapians for 200,000. Agricultural society has been around for 10,000 years, and writing has existed for around 5,000. Electricity has been generated by human-made machines for 150 years. Assuming environmental degradation doesn't wipe out humanity in the next few centuries, humanity could well survive for many more years - maybe millions, possibly hundreds of millions. But how long will our electronics last?
Most of our modern-day electronic gadgets require a multitude of rare elements. Although not all that rare, they are still limited. Natural reserves will run out. But when? According to the Guardian, global demand is around 200,000 tonnes/year, and we have 100 million tonnes economically viable and accessible on the planet. That would mean we have 500 years of supply left (if we foolishly assume demand is steady). I've been unable to determine how much of this is economically viable to extract.
However, things don't stop when the total supply is spent. Some things become impossible when the first few critical elements becomes unavailable. That could be by the end of the decade, as Hafnium, Indium and Gallium run out. Furthermore, things will run into problems when China stops exporting. It's likely to do so in 2012, and it currently controls 97% of the worlds rare earth mining (a lot comes from Mongolia - sometimes called Minegolia!). We could see a major price hike in electronics in the next couple of years.
Aside from disappointing human greed, this may not be a bad thing. It will hopefully encourage people to look for longer-lasting electronics, and will encourage increased recycling of electronics. E-waste sites are responsible for polluting large areas of land, and expose the poorest humans to life-destroying toxins. We must press our officials for recycling and waste regulations that take the health of people and the environment into account. Once some of the larger deposits of rare earths are stripped, it is likely to become more economically viable (not to mention more efficient) to create an almost-closed recycling loop. However, this will require laws that force products to be made with recycling in mind. Not impossible, but certainly something that will require widespread public support.
But the biggest problem involved in the temporary nature of electronics is the mining that supports their existence. Mining today is probably the best example of a closed and uncaring mentality that rips apart some of the most valuable parts of the planet. To 'mine' is to 'use up' the planet. Earth is seen to be disposable. The local people, a nuisance. Ecosystems, inconvenient.
Mines are nearly all operated by large multinational companies. Many of these corporations have proven track records of environmental and human-rights abuses. Rio Tinto, DeBeers and AngloGold (to name a few) have all be nominated as the most evil corporations in the world. They repeatedly strip areas of their resources, and in doing so they destroy the local environment, dig up ancient sacred sites, wipe of local peoples and native culture, support and conduct genocide, walk over worker's rights, practice slavery (including child slavery), heavily contribute to climate emissions, poison rivers, steal water, cause species to become extinct, finance violent factions, bribe officials, encourage political instability, and murder activists who try to oppose them. I'd link them all, but you can google each of them pretty easily.
Mining is a major problem in the world today. It is barely regulated, and where it is, the regulations are frequently ignored. It's a problem that isn't going away. You should expect to see the abuses of the mining corporations for the rest of your life. You should look into strategies to stop them. You should get involved whenever you can to stop these corporations from conducting mining, both locally and abroad.
Of course, an important way to reduce the abuses of mining will be to reduce the need for it. The next time you're thinking about buying an electronic product, reconsider. Do you need it? Will it last? Is it worth it? Because every electronic product you buy is almost certainly, in some way, tied to many of the abuses mentioned above. Can you really justify the purchase? And if you can, look for electronics that will last. Look into their production. Look into the supply-chain that brought them in front of you. Be informed, and purchase as ethically as you can.
Reduce, reuse, recycle.
Hopefully it won't be long before we have fair trade electronics.
