Green Electronics?

At the library we actively promote the use of Smartphones, tablets and eReaders, because many of our library materials are now available in electronic form. We also offer courses on how to use these electronic devices. But I sometimes worry that our dependence on these devices is not doing our planet any good. E-Readers, for example, are touted as being "green" because they save trees, but we know that the manufacturers expect us to replace them every eighteen months.  So how green are they really?

Here is a nice video that sums up the problem of planned obsolescence:

On top of this, we are all increasingly aware that many of the components needed to create these devices, minerals like tungsten, tantalum, and gold, are mined in places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where profits from the sale of these minerals are used to finance longstanding regional conflicts.  We also know that many of these devices are manufactured in Third World sweatshops under poor working conditions.  Taken all together, that new Smartphone in your hand is not looking so smart.

But what if we could buy a phone that was repairable and up-gradable, where the manufacturer did his best to ensure that the components were sourced from reliable suppliers and manufactured under safe conditions, and where the employees were paid a fair wage?  Google is promising something of the sort with its much-discussed but still-to-be-released, Ara.

One company in the Netherlands has just released the Fairphone 2.  It looks promising.  The problem is that it is very expensive.  My other concern is this: Will Fairphone sell enough product to guarantee its survival, or would I be buying the cellphone equivalent of the eight-track tape?  I do hope that this is the model of the future and that other companies will follow suit.  Imagine buying a phone that was this simple to repair or upgrade.  It could last for years.

See a review of the Fairphone 2 here.

--Ken Haigh

Book Donations

Libraries welcome donations of books. Our budgets are limited, so donations help to fill in the gaps in our collections and help to replace copies of existing books that are worn out through constant use. But we are discerning in what we accept.  What we ARE looking for are recent titles, published within the last five years, that would appeal to a wide readership. What we don't need (and I say this in the nicest possible way) are old magazines, encyclopedia sets, textbooks, Reader's Digest condensed books, or anything that has been stored outside (in a garage perhaps) or in a basement and that smells musty.

Below are a few recent examples of donations we cannot use:

The truth is that many books have an expiry date beyond which nobody wants them or needs them anymore.  The best thing to do with these books is to recycle them.  Paperbacks and magazines can go in regular household recycling.  Even hardcover books, if you cut the covers off, can be put out with your paper recycling.  I know this sounds heretical coming from a librarian, but it is a sad fact that most books eventually end up being recycled.