2G + 500G = brand new mac!

I got 2 gigs of memory for my mac today, and an external hard drive. I had enough money for a new mac–one of those shiny silver ones with the black keyboard and the upgraded trackpad that I drool over in the stores. But I wrote a research paper on electronic waste in China last semester, and it was shocking to discover how much technology is exported abroad to be trashed under the guise of “recycling.” Instead of spending the necessary funds to safely dismantle electronic goods at the end of their lifetime, most manufacturers prefer to simply ship these products to Asia or Africa for dumping. There, people in impoverished circumstances dissemble these discarded products and deal with raw substances such as cadmium and mercury, with little to no protection.