Chapter 9

Chapter 9 basically focused on cell phones and e-waste, hence the title of the chapter! Slade talked about how cell phones contribute the most e-waste in the world. Slade noted that in 2001 the Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition estimated that the amount of electronic consumer waste entering America's landfills that year would be between 5 to 7 million tons. Slade states that the lack of durability of electronic products grows from a combination of psychological and technological obsolescence. Slade doesn't really talk much about e-waste in the beginning of the chapter because much of his focus is on cell phones and the use of them. Slade presents Colin Campbell, a sociologist of consumerism. Campbell talks about neophilia, which is the love of new things. He presents three varieties of neophiliacs. The first kinda acquires new products and discards older ones in order to sustain a pristine self-image. The second type are people who crave the newest product lines and the very latest technology. The third category are people who are hypersensitive to the latest styles, which creates new wants. These neophiliacs describe much of Americans today. Slade also mentions that cellular phones are taking over landline telephones today, which is very true. Many people like the fact that they can take their phones with them wherever they go and can use them whenever they need to. Landlines cannot be used outside of the home. The last few pages of the chapter talk about what can be done to reduce e-waste. Most countries have the Basel Convention which constricts the flow of toxic e-waste to Asia, but America does not have that yet. It states that America brides the custom agents so that the e-waste can get through customs. Americans need to be informed more about e-waste and its effects in order for anything to change.

I know Slade was trying to get his readers to understand why there is so much e-waste, but I don't think he talked about e-waste enough. He presented e-waste in the last couple pages of the book and that was about it. He should have talked a lot more about e-waste, and presented us with a solution to the problem we have.