Essay writing 2nd Draft
The population size of China was 1.344
billion in 2012; 1.155 billion mobile-phones were sold in China in that year
(“Global mobile statistics 2013”). By doing a simple calculation, about 85.9%
of the entire population owned the mobile-phones. This number convincingly
proves that the proliferation of the technology is unprecedentedly fast in
today’s world. It is also undeniable that such technology has provided great
convenience to the human being, but meanwhile, millions of tons of electronic
wastes are generated, which contribute to the environmental pollution and human
health issues significantly. Therefore, the Chinese government needs to take
some actions to ameliorate such condition.
Wastson (2013), stated that according
to United Nations’ data, about 70% of electronic wastes globally generated
ended up in China. Guiyu, one of the town in Guangdong province. It has been a
major hub for the disposal of e-waste. This problem seems to be getting more
and more severe which requires the local governments to have some regulations
on it. In the same article, it is stated that “the Chinese government had some
success regulating e-waste disposal with a ‘Home Appliance Old for New Rebate
Program,’ which was tested from 2009 to 2011” (para. 42). However, this is not good enough. The
government should encourage local electronic product companies to recycle the
old electronic devices and raise people’s awareness of the negative impacts
from e-waste.
Recycling is actually a huge project,
which requires a lot of efforts to be put in. The local government of Guiyu
should advocate recycling amount all the electronic companies. The companies
could set up a few recycle points for the local citizens to throw away their
unwanted or spoiled old electronic equipment such as computers, cell phones,
washing machines. Then, the companies can reuse some of the components for
testing, invention purposes. However, by doing so, more works need to be done
by the companies. They have to put extra efforts and time to dismantle all the devices
they have recycled. The companies might not have the interests to launch such
recycling program base on the profitability. So, the role of the government
here is crucial. The government can probably provide some pecuniary incentives
to the companies, which cover the extra efforts and time for dismantling the
recycled devices.
According to Lu (2008), Greenpeace
volunteer Lai Yun conducted a survey in Guiyu Town. Eighty percent of the
town's 150,000 inhabitants are engaged in the business of dismantling
electrical junk. The 52-square-kilometer town not only disposes of domestic
electronic garbage, but also imports waste from abroad. From the statistics, it
can be concluded that the amount the e-waste is incredibly huge, which heavily
affects the environmental and people living condition. Another method to reduce
the electronic junks over there is that setting up a few more electronic
disposal points in other parts of China. The e-waste condition in Guiyu will
then be improved. However, the root cause is not really solved, the total
amount of e-waste remains the same.
It is important to let people know
the negative impacts of e-waste. Otherwise, people are lack of intention to do
recycling. Therefore, the local government in Guiyu should conduct some events
or campaigns, which help people get to know more about e-waste. One of the
example is the Greenpeace campaign in Europe. Peoples who has attended campaign
might know the benefits from recycling e-waste. So, people are encouraged the
do recycling by the campaigns like that. The government in Guiyu could also
hold similar campaigns for their citizen. The function of the campaign acts
like an auxiliary to recycling. With more people know the benefits of the
recycling and harm of e-waste, recycling will be much more efficient.
In conclusion, the government has
already done something to control e-waste, but it is far less than good. The
current condition in Guiyu is still awful. Of course the problem of e-waste
cannot be solved in a short time, the entire society should work together as a
whole, treat this problem seriously. Otherwise, it is hard to say that the
world will not become the one in the movie of “Wall-E”, a world, full with
garbage.
Reference:
Lu, R. (2008, Jan 8) China Today: The
problem of E-waste. Retrieved Oct 12, 2013 from
http://www.china.org.cn/english/China/238544.htm
Mobithinking (2013, May) Global mobile
statistics 2013 Part A: Mobile subscribers; handset market share; mobile
operators. Retrieved from Oct 14, 2013 from http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats/a
Watson, I. (2013, May 31) China: The
electronic wastebasket of the world. Retrieved Oct 13, 2013 from http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/30/world/asia/china-electronic-waste-e-waste/index.html
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