Hmmm, Amartya...you bring up lots of good points again! Isn't Sony a Japanese corporation? Maybe with US offices, but I thought they (along with many technology firms) are Asian-based? Couldn't the US slap them with an import tax geared toward recycling fees? Or do our administrations look the other way because 1) we love the technology and 2) we all "just need to get along"? The financial incentive to recycle that you speak of could happen here, on a grassroots level rather than on a federal one. :-) Cheers, Kelly
Black River Action Team (BRAT) 45 Coolidge Road Springfield, VT 05156 http://www.blackriveractionteam.org ~ Fun, hands-on science, and stewardship since 2000! ~ --- On Fri, 7/31/09, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: From: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] What's wrong with growth (was: ESA position on sustainable growth) To: "Kelly Stettner" <[email protected]> Date: Friday, July 31, 2009, 10:28 AM I totally agree with you in that money is not evil, it is just a currency for material exchange. By growth mongerers, i meant corporations. For instance, back in the 1990s, Sony decided to incorporate planned obsolence of the walkman, so that 1. they did not last as long as the earlier models and 2. spare parts for repairs were intentionally made so expensive that it was better to buy a new walkman. So the number of units sold went up, and with, the company's productivity as measured by the revenues earned that year. Along with that, the waste stream increased. The governments failed their environmental duty, as no disposal costs were slapped on Sony. I just mentioned Sony as an example, there were plenty more companies. Thank the economists who do not consider the earth. Nothing has changed since then. In fact, it has gotten worse, as electronics get more widespread. And actually the only place where electronic recycling and reuse happens is the third world. It does not happen here. There is no financial incentive for it. Education is equally lacking in both worlds in my experience, at least as far as the true costs of stuff, from manufacture to use and disposal. Its a long road ! cheers amartya
