March 7, 2009 (World News Trust) -- Would
you give up the ability to text "ttyl" (Talk to you later) to your BFF (Best Friends Forever) in order to save a
species from going extinct? In 2009, it’s not an insane
question.
The
next time your cell phone rings, try focusing on these six simple
words: The Democratic Republic of the Congo.
I ask you to do this
because one of the primary components of cell phone circuitry is a
metallic ore called Columbite-Tantalite -- or "coltan."
Eighty percent of the world’s known coltan can be found in
African nation of The Democratic Republic of the Congo (or DRC),
which just so happens to be embroiled in a brutal (even by current
standards) civil war since the pre-cell phone days of 1994. Over
time, all sides in the unrelenting struggles adroitly began using the
mining and sale of coltan not only to nourish the West’s
seemingly insatiable cell phone addiction, but also to fund their
inexorable mayhem.
Civilian deaths in the DRC during this time -- mostly
from war-related disease and malnutrition --are estimated not in
the hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands, but rather in the
millions… making it the world's deadliest
military conflict since the Second World War.
And
it gets worse. Just ask an Eastern Lowland Gorilla, the world’s
largest primate, found almost exclusively in the DRC. According to
National Geographic: "Following a decade of civil war in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, new estimates suggest that the
number of eastern lowland gorillas may have plummeted by 70 percent.
Conflict, illegal mining for a mineral used for electronic-device
components, and the growing bush-meat trade have all taken their
toll." The UN Environment Program has reported that the number
of eastern lowland gorillas in eight DRC national parks has
subsequently declined by 90 percent.
We
can only hope that some enterprising soul has already recorded the
Eastern Lowland Gorilla’s call so it can be used as a ring tone
long after they’re gone.
Speaking
of "long after they're gone," there's also the issue of all
the e-waste created -- in part -- from discarded cell phones.
"A whole bouquet of heavy metals, semimetals and other chemical
compounds lurk inside your seemingly innocent laptop or TV,"
says Jessika
Toothman at HowStuffWorks.com.
"E-waste dangers stem from ingredients such as lead, mercury,
arsenic, cadmium, copper, beryllium, barium, chromium, nickel, zinc,
silver and gold. Many of these elements are used in circuit boards
and comprise electrical parts such as computer chips, monitors, and
wiring."
According
to the Environmental
Protection
Agency (EPA), in 2005, “used or unwanted electronics amounted
to approximately 1.9 to 2.2 million tons. Of that, about 1.5 to 1.9
million tons were primarily discarded in landfills, and only 345,000
to 379,000 tons were recycled.”
Ain't
progress swell?
Mickey
Z. can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net.