Blog Entry 5: E- Waste

1.  Brominated flame retardants are compounds made of carbon and bromine which, when added to a plastic, electronic, furniture, or other items, reduce the likelihood that the object will catch on fire. We need this in our computers because it decreases the likelihood that they will burst into flames when they become extremely hot.
2. The greener company of the two would be Dell, but the greenest computer company is an Indian company by the name of WIPRO. (I'm proud)
3.  There are some less severe side effects, such as dermatitis and headaches, but on the other end of the spectrum, we have cancers, miscarriage, and harm to pretty much every major organ. It scares me what these chemicals can do, which makes me even more scared of the people who salvage E-Waste illegally on the other side of the world.
4. To raise awareness of E-Waste on Earth Day, we could have St. Patrick's students sign a pledge to keep their smartphone until it is unusable. This will ever so slightly reduce the amount of E-Waste there is, and it will eventually save them some money on their monthly phone bill.