First, there was blood or conflict diamonds, now the vital innards of our mobile or cell phones are now being made by raw materials fueling the on-going conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Ethical cell / mobiles wanted?
By: Vanessa Uy
After the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, the US Government / Bush Administration finally acknowledges the dangers of conflict / blood diamonds after their “intelligence annalists” found out that these “diamonds” played a vital part in funding al-Qaeda’s terror operations around the world. Weird being that a few years hence when only black Africans are suffering, the Republican Party-ruled US legislature don’t even give a damn about conflict diamonds.
Fast-forward to 2008, and the slave mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo have ignominiously became the cheapest supplier of vital minerals necessary for the manufacture of very cheap Chinese-made mobile phones / cellular phones. Since the world market demands the cheapness factor when it comes to the latest in mobile phone / cellular phone technology, social and ethical concerns with regards to manufacture and labor tend to fall by the wayside.
Coltan, a combination or aggregate of two mineral ores: columbite and tantalite. Columbite – the black mineral consisting essentially of iron and columbium / niobium. The other one is tantalite, a valuable source of the metal tantalum. These two transition metals are very useful as battery and ultra-miniaturized capacitor components in the latest model cellular and mobile phones. Given that tantalum capacitors are also used in the Hi Fi industry, the corporate world’s tacit support for the on-going armed conflict in Africa – especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo – is surely despicable. Especially when majority of “hapless consumers” are tricked into underwriting their callous disregard for human lives.
Dismantling the “economic system” that made the trade in “blood mobile phones” possible is not easy. Congolese rebel leader / freedom fighter and ethnic Tutsi Laurent N’Kunda has earned himself a legion of loyal followers that would gladly give up their lives in support of his cause. Even his official Website – especially those that can be seen internationally – portray him as if he’s an African R&B heartthrob. Though Laurent N'Kunda was very instrumental in providing safe-havens for Tutsi's fleeing from the Rwandan genocide back in April of 1994, the incidence of rape by his troops and slavery in the coltan mines certainly makes his brand of "nation building" open to much criticism. This is truly a case where one man’s terrorist is another one’s freedom fighter. Probably only an arrest and subsequent trial in The Hague could dissuade his supporters and bring him to justice, as opposed to a US government underwritten assassination operation, which could raise Laurent N’Kunda to martyrdom status.
But we the consumers can do our part too by buying only cellular phones / mobile phones that are ethically produced by socially responsible corporations, instead of choosing the latest and cheapest ones with a history of unethical business practice. Even though these “ethical phones” will be far from cheap, at least we are doing our fellow brethren a world of good. Just remember and be mindful of that “Instant Karma” that John Lennon used to warn us about.
Showing posts with label Corporate Social Responsibility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Corporate Social Responsibility. Show all posts
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Friday, May 30, 2008
CeBit 2008: Greening of the IT Industry?
Ever since the Internet revolution helped spread the message of saving our environment, concerns were voiced over the rather large carbon footprint generated in keeping the net up and running. Is the time for a solution now neigh?
By: Vanessa Uy
Environmentalists around the world could trace the roots of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” in the fledging Internet circa 1995. It is the only place where the scientific validity of the existence and threat of global warming survive, despite the attempts of the GOP lead US congress attempts to cast doubts on the existence of global warming. But the information campaign to reverse the threat of global warming threatens to devolve into hypocrisy when you consider the Internet infrastructure’s overall carbon footprint. Especially when it comes to energy needs.
There had been measures to reduce the Internet’s carbon footprint over the years, but none matching the variety provided by this year’s CeBit. From search engine providers use of photovoltaic power generating technologies and hydrogen fuel cells for large-scale power generation to power their mainframe servers. Also using water-cooled microprocessors to reduce the Internet’s carbon footprint down to the individual user level. Water-cooled microprocessors really seems a way forward when it comes to reducing a PC ‘s power consumption since –at present – 40% of a contemporary design PC ‘s energy needs is spent on cooling the microprocessor. And since water is a more efficient cooling medium compared to moving air, this could well be a very viable solution. This year’s CeBit offerings are indeed hell-bent on saving our environment.
Fortunately for us denizens of the net, it’s much easier to design and build carbon-neutral electric power plants to power the World Wide Web. As opposed to privately owned cars – which for the foreseeable future at least – seems to be addicted to petroleum. But the Internet’s electricity requirement’s carbon footprint is not the only threat to our environment posed by the rapidly evolving technological infrastructure of our information-based society. Pre loved PC ‘s can also threaten our planet by being a source of plastic and toxic metals pollution. And the environmental pressure group Greenpeace has been very vocal about this over the years. But this too has solutions, companies that manufactures PC ‘s has been providing environmentally friendly recycling schemes over the past few years. Like refurbishing old computers so that they can still be used in poorer neighborhoods, which is really good when you consider the alternative like obsolete computers leaking toxic chemicals to the groundwater supply. Considering what has been achieved so far, computers are looking to be one of the greenest mass-market items ever invented – with a little help of environmental awareness of course.
By: Vanessa Uy
Environmentalists around the world could trace the roots of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” in the fledging Internet circa 1995. It is the only place where the scientific validity of the existence and threat of global warming survive, despite the attempts of the GOP lead US congress attempts to cast doubts on the existence of global warming. But the information campaign to reverse the threat of global warming threatens to devolve into hypocrisy when you consider the Internet infrastructure’s overall carbon footprint. Especially when it comes to energy needs.
There had been measures to reduce the Internet’s carbon footprint over the years, but none matching the variety provided by this year’s CeBit. From search engine providers use of photovoltaic power generating technologies and hydrogen fuel cells for large-scale power generation to power their mainframe servers. Also using water-cooled microprocessors to reduce the Internet’s carbon footprint down to the individual user level. Water-cooled microprocessors really seems a way forward when it comes to reducing a PC ‘s power consumption since –at present – 40% of a contemporary design PC ‘s energy needs is spent on cooling the microprocessor. And since water is a more efficient cooling medium compared to moving air, this could well be a very viable solution. This year’s CeBit offerings are indeed hell-bent on saving our environment.
Fortunately for us denizens of the net, it’s much easier to design and build carbon-neutral electric power plants to power the World Wide Web. As opposed to privately owned cars – which for the foreseeable future at least – seems to be addicted to petroleum. But the Internet’s electricity requirement’s carbon footprint is not the only threat to our environment posed by the rapidly evolving technological infrastructure of our information-based society. Pre loved PC ‘s can also threaten our planet by being a source of plastic and toxic metals pollution. And the environmental pressure group Greenpeace has been very vocal about this over the years. But this too has solutions, companies that manufactures PC ‘s has been providing environmentally friendly recycling schemes over the past few years. Like refurbishing old computers so that they can still be used in poorer neighborhoods, which is really good when you consider the alternative like obsolete computers leaking toxic chemicals to the groundwater supply. Considering what has been achieved so far, computers are looking to be one of the greenest mass-market items ever invented – with a little help of environmental awareness of course.
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