Betrayed trust

Clothes and computers I believe in thoroughly using up. While my grandmother and oldest aunt were still alive, worn-out clothes would be recycled into rag-rugs, but these days I have to dump my Swiss cheese underwear in the trash—one only needs so many polishing cloths. Computers with crashed hard disks, burned-out screens and blind mice I have dutifully taken to the recycling centre under the assumption that they will be properly dealt with, metals separated from plastics and as much as possible turned into new electronics.

This is apparently not necessarily the case. Millions of tonnes of worn-out computers end up in the third world, compounding their environmental problems. This video from Consumers International briefly introduces the problem and the few seconds around 1:52 told me that this is my responsibility as well.



For some bizarre reason it is the Traffic office that handles recycling issues in Stockholm. I have written to them and asked how to make sure that my broken electronics don't become (more of) a health issue for Africans.