About

We are a group of students from Mercer University located in Macon, GA. In learning about the trials that Africa has faced throughout it's long history, one recent issue was brought to our attention and has become imperative in our discussion: E-Waste. We have become focused and committed to the education and public awareness of of this problem slowly plaguing our generation because it sticks out as something that we have the power to help change and set both Africa and the world on a new course. One factor we want to express is how this issue all began with a mineral called Coltan.

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Coltan is an ore that contains an element called Tantalum. Tantalum is used to make batteries and microprocessors for many electronics. These electronics range from computers to pacemakers to mp3 players. It's extremely valuable and it is reported that over 80% of world reserves are found in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This is where part of the issue comes in. The DRC, while being one of the richest countries on Earth in terms of minerals and natural resource, it is a stricken country plagued by slavery and corruption.

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The Coltan and Tantalum is transported from Africa to countries where it is processed and then used to produce the electronics that we have all become so accustomed to. Then we use the electronics until we become bored and soon we are on to the next new thing. But one thing that we never address is where these old electronics go once we either trade them into our cell phone provider or take them to the nearest landfill. You see, these electronics are extremely hard to recycle as they produce toxic chemicals that can lead to cancer, degenerative diseases, and even death. Therefore, these electronics are often shipped of to countries like Ghana where the inhabitants are forced to dispose of waste that is not theirs. 

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The pictures below show some of the waste that is currently plaguing Africa. People of all ages are forced to work in horrible conditions, exposing themselves to the toxic fumes. There are much better, healthier ways to dispose of E-Waste, right here in our own country. However, most people are not interested due to the extra cost that is associated with it. We often think that by shipping our E-Waste off to the other side of the world that we are avoiding the harm that it can cause. This is simply not the case, in reference to Lorenz' Butterfly Effect, disposing of E-Waste in this way will eventually come back to haunt us. The time to change our outlook is now.