I was watching a show called Eco Trip on the Sundance Channel tonight.  This episode was about cell phones.

Eco Trip - Episode 7

Sundance Channel - Eco Trip - Episode 7

Amongst all the details about how bad they are for the environment while they are being made as well as after you dispose of them, one thing caught my attention more than others…

One of the elements needed to make a key element in just about every piece of electronics we use today, is called coltan.

Coltan is the metalic ore from which tantalum is made.  Tantalum is what most capacitors are made from.

The show indicated that most of the worlds coltan resides in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).  I don’t think I need to explain why reliance on the DRC for such a core element of all electronics is a bad thing.  Well, maybe I do, just a little…

An excerpt from Wikipedia on the DRC:

The Second Congo War, beginning in 1998, devastated the country, involved seven foreign armies and is sometimes referred to as the “African World War”.[4] Despite the signing of peace accords in 2003, fighting continues in the east of the country. In eastern Congo, the prevalence of rape and other sexual violence is described as the worst in the world.[5] The war is the world’s deadliest conflict since World War II, killing 5.4 million people.[6][7]

I googled around to see which companies get their coltan from the DRC and which don’t.  Most information I found was related to cell phone manufacturers…  This website, ethicalconsumer.org, has a buyer’s guide to mobile phones, which talks about the big companies that are ranked by Greenpeace (which should mean, they do everything they can to get their materials in an ethical/green way), it’s a good thing to have a Greenpeace ranking…

  • Nokia
  • Sony Ericsson
  • Samsung
  • Motorola
  • Apple

The website also indicates that Australia is taking over the market on coltan, which is where the responsible manufacturers should be ensuring  their products components are sourced from.

Another point in the episode talked about the e-waste is handled and that the majority of it still ends up in a poverty stricken countries around the world.  PBS has a great story about it…

To sum up:

  1. Be responsible
  2. Recycle your old cell phones / electronics
  3. Ask the recycler where the devices end up
  4. Don’t just throw electronics in the garbage
  5. Check out Eco Trip, I really enjoyed it

Next time you look at your cell phone or computer, remember that some it probably came from the Congo and might end up Ghana.

UPDATE:

Ran across the makeITfair.org website shortly after posting this…  They’ve posted a list of companies that have responded to their list of principles to follow.  http://makeitfair.org/companies/company-responses-to-the-makeitfair-list-of