MediaShed and the Environment

Did you know?



To manufacture just one desktop computer uses more than 240 kilos of fossil fuels, 22 kilos of chemicals and 1,500 kilos of water. These findings, published by researchers at the United Nations University in Tokyo, has found that computers are very energy and materials intensive to produce. The authors warn that fossil fuels are linked to climate change and that the use of chemicals can affect the health of microchip production workers. In fact, the weight of fossil fuels required to make one desktop amounts to more than ten times the computer's weight. By comparison, the quantity used to make a car or a fridge is roughly equal to the weight of the finished product.

What can we do with all this waste? Can we give some of it a new life? Can we create innovative local initiatives? Can Southend-on-Sea be a national leader in recycling?

• The authors of the UN report, Ruediger Kuehr and Eric Williams, call for education programmes and incentives to encourage people to think about using second-hand PCs or to hand their old PC over for resale or refurbishment
• EU Directives on waste electrical and electronic equipment are designed to tackle the fast increasing waste stream of electrical and electronic equipment and complements European Union measures on landfill and incineration of waste. It aims at increased recycling of electrical and electronic equipment and will limit the total quantity of waste going to final disposal. The EU's Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive, applies to a wide range of products, including IT, telecoms, TV, video, hi-fi, electrical and electronic tools, toys, sports equipment and medical devices.
• The MediaShed reuses discarded Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment, extending its life cycle and creating public awareness about the important issues of recycling and sustainability. At present most old computers and other electrical equipment ends up in landfill sites when in fact many of these items are still useful.

• By installing Free and Open Source Software onto old machines they can continue to have a useful life way beyond normal. This is because proprietary software is designed to rely on the latest computer upgrades and loses its compatibility with older computers much faster. A recent government study has concluded that Linux, the leading Free Open Source operating system, is so efficient that it doubles the useful life of computers. The MediaShed regularly gains an extra four years life out of donated computer hardware.