Making a difference to the environment – Few Thoughts

Dear Readers,

As we had seen in the past 3 blogs, electronics has become a part of our everyday lives catering to various needs. It has created an equally strong impact on our environment, straining energy generation, contaminating natural resources and creating an issue of ever increasing e-waste. It is a duty as responsible global citizens to take concrete steps to reduce the harmful effects and enabling future generations to lead a happier life! There are many ways we can make a difference:

1. Evolving design practices that are environmental friendly – Design for Environment
2. Development of energy efficient products that conserve energy consumption in standby and operating modes. Energy Star compliance is an excellent mechanism
3. Making energy efficient products is not sufficient unless consumers are aware of how to make best use the devices with respect to energy efficiency. Consumer education is a priority and manufacturers can consider this as an important aspect of product design.
4. Eliminating or reducing hazardous substances in electronic products.
5. Evolving methodologies and practices that involve recyclability and reuse when a product is discarded. One way is to adhere to the guidelines of the WEEE (EU). This has to be thought about during the product conceptualization and design stages itself.
6. To design truly ecologically sound products, companies need to shift away from products designed with a limited lifespan (planned obsolescence) and towards long-living upgradeable goods, with warranty periods significantly above minimum legal standards and with long availability of components. Since the cost of electronic products drop drastically year after year, people generally tend to discard the product instead of upgrading. Product design should consider this aspect and encourage users to upgrade their product rather than throw them away. In essence, this pertains to repairability and longer life of the product.
7. In this era of mobility, batteries have played a very important role. Many rechargeable batteries use hazardous substances. Good scope exists for enhancing their efficiencies. Battery technologies have not kept pace with electronics and are atleast 10 years behind. Newer, efficient, safer and environmentally friendly technologies that are at various development stages today need to be accelerated to mass production stages. Fuel cells, Ultra capacitors and such technologies show great promise.
8. Adopting energy efficient manufacturing and distribution mechanisms. One of the methods especially suitable for India is to encourage local manufacturing. Being closer to the consumers is an efficient step from many dimensions.
9. In the absence of any monitoring and enforcement from the government side, leading industry bodies, in close collaboration with the government, will have to take up the task of evolving such measures and ensuring that its members strictly adhere to them. E-waste disposal is an area that will benefit from such an initiative. Proper recycling and incineration guidelines are a greater need of the hour. Though guidelines and stipulations are there, enforcement is a problem.
10. Encouraging Tele commuting where a significant percentage of employees work out of their homes. This is not without major problems though! Especially in India! But if a way can be worked out, it provides a significant reduction in energy costs.

Let’s pledge to work towards a safer and better environment. Let’s first attempt to gain awareness ourselves and make a difference by spreading this awareness.

Bye for now.

Paddy