1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 2 00:00:03,240 --> 00:00:08,760 Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:15,280 Speaker 1: tech stuff from how stuff Works dot com. Hi there, everybody, 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to the podcast. My name is Chris Polett. I'm 5 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,159 Speaker 1: an editor here at How Stuff Works. Sitting next to me, 6 00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:23,320 Speaker 1: as always is senior writer Jonathan Stricklands. How do you, folks? 7 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: And Uh, we'd we'd like you to stay with us. 8 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:28,840 Speaker 1: We we hate for you to leave, because that would 9 00:00:28,840 --> 00:00:33,000 Speaker 1: be a waste. Uh. One of your infamous segues already 10 00:00:33,040 --> 00:00:36,960 Speaker 1: transitions intros and and one of my classier ones. Yeah, 11 00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:39,480 Speaker 1: this is uh, this is a rough topic we're about 12 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:42,160 Speaker 1: to talk about. We're gonna talk about electronic waste today, 13 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: which is a very serious issue. Um, and it's more 14 00:00:47,720 --> 00:00:50,560 Speaker 1: serious now, I guess than ever before because just when 15 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: you think about how how the electronics industry kind of works. 16 00:00:55,720 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 1: If you've bought a computer in the last five years, 17 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:00,639 Speaker 1: then you know this already. As soon as you get 18 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:02,200 Speaker 1: at home and you hook it up, you find out 19 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: your computer is obsolete. And the commercials on computers and 20 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: seem to indicate that you know, you're a complete loser 21 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: unless you go out and buy the next great computer. Well, 22 00:01:12,560 --> 00:01:14,640 Speaker 1: what do you do with your old computer? You know, 23 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:16,679 Speaker 1: even if you resist that urge and you wait a 24 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,919 Speaker 1: year or two, eventually you're gonna build buy a new machine. 25 00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: I mean, you're probably not just gonna keep upgrading your 26 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:24,399 Speaker 1: old one, because eventually you will get to a point 27 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 1: where you can't you can't go any further with the 28 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:29,560 Speaker 1: equipment you have, and you want to stay current, especially 29 00:01:29,600 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: if you're an early adopter. Um, so you go out 30 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: and you you buy a new machine, But what do 31 00:01:34,080 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: you do with the old one? And? Uh, this is 32 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:40,720 Speaker 1: becoming a really important question because that turns out there's 33 00:01:40,760 --> 00:01:44,400 Speaker 1: a lot of stuff in these machines that we should 34 00:01:44,440 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: not allow to get into the environment because they're very, 35 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,920 Speaker 1: very hazardous both to humans and to to other animals 36 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,920 Speaker 1: and to two while you know, just plants and uh, 37 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 1: water supplies. I mean, it's it's serious stuff. Yeah, you 38 00:01:59,480 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: want to talk about some of those are Writer Jessica 39 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: Toothman did an article called how e Waste Works, and 40 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: in it she says that these things are all to 41 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:12,480 Speaker 1: be found in electronic waste. You already we got lead, 42 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:20,919 Speaker 1: we got lead, mercury, arsenic cadmium, copper, beryllium, barium, chromium, nickel, zinc, silver, 43 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: and gold, and uh, you know a lot of those things, 44 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:28,320 Speaker 1: especially things like lead and mercury, are definitely not something 45 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:31,799 Speaker 1: you want in the even cadmium, yeah, you don't want. 46 00:02:32,720 --> 00:02:36,640 Speaker 1: And none of those is particularly good for you. You know, 47 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:39,399 Speaker 1: there are some that are worse than others. And of course, 48 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,280 Speaker 1: if you go older electronics, you know, pre you know, 49 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: the mid seventies or so have PCBs worry about that 50 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:49,160 Speaker 1: serious stuff too. I Now, granted you don't find that 51 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: in electronics nowadays because of their their actual regulations against it. 52 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:57,400 Speaker 1: But these are all chemicals and toxins that can be 53 00:02:57,480 --> 00:03:01,360 Speaker 1: very hazardous and they're in your tronics now. While they're 54 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:04,160 Speaker 1: in your electronics, they're they're pretty much inert. You don't 55 00:03:04,240 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: really need to worry about lead sneaking out of your 56 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:11,440 Speaker 1: laptop and strangling you as you sleep, unless you're Stephen King, 57 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: in which case I would probably be a pretty good book. 58 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:17,720 Speaker 1: But at any rate, uh, you know, you don't need 59 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 1: to worry about that. But but when you throw things away, uh, 60 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: you know, things get crushed, things get broken, Uh, stuff 61 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:26,520 Speaker 1: leaches out. I mean if it's if it's in an 62 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,880 Speaker 1: open environment, it's it's subject to the elements, so rain 63 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:34,040 Speaker 1: and can leach out harmful chemicals and a lot of 64 00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,680 Speaker 1: these places, the landfills, they'll actually burn the waste, which 65 00:03:38,520 --> 00:03:41,400 Speaker 1: makes the things that are in your computer are even 66 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: more toxic and harmful. Yeah, now when we're we're talking 67 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: about throwing stuff away, um, that that's probably let's go 68 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: step number one. Don't just chunk in the trash when 69 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:54,160 Speaker 1: you're done with it, because that's exactly what's gonna happen. 70 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: It's gonna get churned up by by a giant crushing 71 00:03:57,200 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: machine and uh, you know if they camp out, Yeah, 72 00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: exactly a furnace either way, right exactly. And and so 73 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:06,360 Speaker 1: that's you know sep Number one. You need to find 74 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:08,680 Speaker 1: someplace to recycle it, and a lot of computer manufacturers 75 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 1: will take back there there merchandise or even computers from 76 00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:17,640 Speaker 1: other people. Um. For example, my wife and I just 77 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 1: got new iPods because hers was no longer functioning as 78 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:25,440 Speaker 1: it should and they offer Apple offers to take back 79 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:28,320 Speaker 1: the old iPods and will give you a discount um 80 00:04:28,520 --> 00:04:30,680 Speaker 1: towards the new iPod, which is which is a nice thing. 81 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:34,039 Speaker 1: But the question is and you know this goes for 82 00:04:34,080 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: all the manufacturers. Where does it go when they take 83 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: it away? Are they actually getting recycled or are they 84 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,159 Speaker 1: getting dumped in a landfill? Right and and sixty minutes 85 00:04:44,200 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 1: did a really good expose a on this issue recently, UM. 86 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:52,440 Speaker 1: And one of the things that the group of journalists 87 00:04:52,480 --> 00:04:54,400 Speaker 1: did was they actually went all the way to China 88 00:04:54,800 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 1: to go to a massive landfills supposed to be a 89 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 1: recycling center, but it turned out to just be a 90 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:06,160 Speaker 1: gigantic landfill, and there was this enormous pile of electronics 91 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: just smoldering. You can see the smoke rising from the pile. 92 00:05:09,960 --> 00:05:14,280 Speaker 1: And this releases tons and tons of carcinogens into the atmosphere, 93 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: which means all the people that work in and around 94 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:21,920 Speaker 1: that area are all at risk of of of getting 95 00:05:21,960 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: cancer just for living near there because these chemicals are 96 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,119 Speaker 1: being released into the atmosphere. Yes, I was actually reading 97 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,280 Speaker 1: an article on grisp dot org, which is a very 98 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:36,520 Speaker 1: cool environmental site. UM. And from from what I understand 99 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:40,920 Speaker 1: a lot of times, what they'll do recycling outfits will 100 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:47,200 Speaker 1: pay villagers in countries in Africa and Asia, UM, and 101 00:05:47,400 --> 00:05:49,599 Speaker 1: what they'll do to get the metals and things. They'll 102 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:52,719 Speaker 1: actually stick circuit boards over a fire or over a 103 00:05:52,760 --> 00:05:55,479 Speaker 1: burner and try to get the metal smell. So that's 104 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: releasing toxins into the air. Um. You know, they're probably 105 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: touching some of that stuff with their hands, is leaching 106 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:03,840 Speaker 1: through their skin, you know, getting to the groundwater, and 107 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,479 Speaker 1: they're just sitting on vast heaps of this stuff. Um. 108 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 1: But yeah, as a matter of fact, that that sixty 109 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:13,480 Speaker 1: minutes are report that you were referencing a moment ago, 110 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaker 1: they actually some of the people attacked the journalists who 111 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:20,200 Speaker 1: had come to from CBS to do the reports. It 112 00:06:20,200 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: turned out that that some of the local businessmen who 113 00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: were in charge of this, uh, this landfill, had employed well, 114 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: I guess there's really no other word for it other 115 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: than gangsters to kind of act as muscle to keep 116 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 1: people away from this landfill. They don't want the information 117 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:40,039 Speaker 1: getting out because this is a huge money maker for 118 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:44,040 Speaker 1: them and UM. As a result, the journalists were harassed 119 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:47,120 Speaker 1: and pushed and essentially told that if they didn't leave 120 00:06:47,120 --> 00:06:50,000 Speaker 1: they were going to get beaten up. UM. And they 121 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,160 Speaker 1: were able to keep the camera that the gangsters did 122 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:55,560 Speaker 1: try to wrestle the camera away, but they the journalists 123 00:06:55,560 --> 00:06:57,799 Speaker 1: got away with it. They did lose a soil sample. 124 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: They had taken a soil sample to test and a 125 00:07:00,920 --> 00:07:04,520 Speaker 1: laboratory later, but that was taken by the gangsters. So yeah, 126 00:07:04,560 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 1: I mean, this is like serious business. And and here's 127 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: the thing is that China can offer, like people in 128 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:13,800 Speaker 1: China can offer these these services, these so supposed recycling 129 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: services for a much lower price than say a legitimate 130 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:21,320 Speaker 1: recycling center can because recycling is expensive. It's not it's 131 00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: not a really cheap efficient process. There's a lot of 132 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:29,440 Speaker 1: work that goes into recycling something safely, so it's less 133 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:34,200 Speaker 1: profitable for the person who has to recycle something. It's 134 00:07:34,040 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: it's more expensive for them to do it. There's less 135 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 1: of a profit margin there. So from a revenue perspective, 136 00:07:41,800 --> 00:07:45,600 Speaker 1: it's more attractive to go with one of these shady 137 00:07:45,840 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: recycling outfits because you're gonna save more money that way. 138 00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,480 Speaker 1: But in the end, you really are just doing more 139 00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:55,600 Speaker 1: harm than good. So more and more companies are trying 140 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:58,640 Speaker 1: to be more responsible about this. I mean, it's for 141 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: one thing, it's good press. For another, a lot of them, 142 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: I think genuinely have a desire to make sure they 143 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: don't impact the environment in a harmful way. So I 144 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: don't think it's just them saying, hey, we don't want 145 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:12,640 Speaker 1: this black mark on our records. We want to actually 146 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: do the right thing. So you have more and more 147 00:08:14,800 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: centers that are are taking these steps to make sure 148 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:22,760 Speaker 1: that the recycling has done in a responsible way. But 149 00:08:22,880 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: it does mean a lot more work, that's true. And 150 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: you might be asking where the federal government is coming 151 00:08:28,520 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: in on this. The e P, a environmental protection agency 152 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:37,120 Speaker 1: that is UM, has been criticized for not doing enough UM. Recently, 153 00:08:37,320 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: they came out with a document called Responsible Recycling Practices 154 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: for Use in Accredited Certification Programs also known as are 155 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:49,720 Speaker 1: too for Responsible Recycling UM. It's pretty neat because it uh, 156 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:54,199 Speaker 1: it basically takes into account the workers health and safety, UM, 157 00:08:54,280 --> 00:09:00,280 Speaker 1: the environmental environmental mobile practices like the abominable as it 158 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 1: is exactly UM and basically it says, anybody who's disassembling 159 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:10,160 Speaker 1: or recycling used electronics, these are guidelines that they can follow. 160 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: The key word in there is can. It's a voluntary practice. 161 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:19,560 Speaker 1: So UM, really there's nothing that uh. You know, obviously, 162 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: environmental groups UM are going to be more interested in 163 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:30,040 Speaker 1: a you know, restrictive piece of legislation, a set of guidelines. Um. 164 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 1: But there are some things that you can do UM 165 00:09:34,760 --> 00:09:38,320 Speaker 1: to reclaim this. I actually saw an article in the 166 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 1: New York Times on on November twelve that was talking 167 00:09:42,640 --> 00:09:46,360 Speaker 1: about a group in New England. And let's see the 168 00:09:46,440 --> 00:09:49,400 Speaker 1: name of it is UM on one second, the name 169 00:09:49,440 --> 00:09:52,600 Speaker 1: of it is E Scrap Destruction there in New York. 170 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,520 Speaker 1: And uh. The people who founded the company, father and 171 00:09:56,559 --> 00:10:00,679 Speaker 1: son team, had actually been paper recyclers and they we're 172 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:02,800 Speaker 1: trying they were looking at the problem of e waste 173 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: and what they do. They actually treat it like they 174 00:10:05,000 --> 00:10:08,080 Speaker 1: would paper. Now, when you recycle paper, you shred it, 175 00:10:08,320 --> 00:10:11,280 Speaker 1: destroy it, you know, break it down, uh, and then 176 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:15,400 Speaker 1: basically reform the paper. Well uh, for they're sort of 177 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:17,920 Speaker 1: taking our que from that because they had a giant 178 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: shredder built. So they run the electronics through the shredder 179 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: and then use you know, the stuff that comes out. 180 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:27,280 Speaker 1: And this you know, obviously, if you run a hard 181 00:10:27,360 --> 00:10:32,319 Speaker 1: drive through a shredder, you're also completely uh destroying the 182 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:35,720 Speaker 1: hard drive to make it the data any data left 183 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:39,920 Speaker 1: on it's safe, it's nonrecoverable in that case exactly. So 184 00:10:40,000 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: this this is an added benefit of this. But what 185 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: they'll do is they'll take out they run magnets over it, 186 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:49,280 Speaker 1: and that pulls out anything that's ferriss um, and they 187 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:51,800 Speaker 1: send it to another organization that can pull out the 188 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: bits of glass and other things. And they they separated 189 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: out piece by piece, sort of like a single stream 190 00:10:57,840 --> 00:11:01,080 Speaker 1: recycling go through and pick got all the copper and 191 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:03,320 Speaker 1: all the lead and all the glass which can be 192 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 1: reused and recent and their their policy is that nothing 193 00:11:07,640 --> 00:11:10,640 Speaker 1: goes into a landfill. Everything is reclaimed, which is a 194 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:12,800 Speaker 1: pretty neat way. This is the first time I've actually 195 00:11:12,800 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: seen anybody do this, so, um, it's pretty awesome stuff. 196 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:19,480 Speaker 1: That's incredible. And and so if you are looking at 197 00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:22,160 Speaker 1: recycling some of your electronic devices and whether that be 198 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:25,199 Speaker 1: you know, a computer or a handheld device, a phone, 199 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:27,840 Speaker 1: cellular phone, something like that, make sure you do a 200 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:32,000 Speaker 1: little research into the various recycling programs that are that 201 00:11:32,120 --> 00:11:35,400 Speaker 1: are available to you, and uh and make sure that 202 00:11:35,440 --> 00:11:38,080 Speaker 1: it's going to the right place, because I mean, what's 203 00:11:38,120 --> 00:11:40,160 Speaker 1: the point otherwise you can just toss it out if 204 00:11:40,200 --> 00:11:43,559 Speaker 1: if it's gonna end up in a landfill anyway, Um, 205 00:11:43,760 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 1: do a little legwork. See if you can find any 206 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:51,480 Speaker 1: reports on on how, um, how the recycling center handles 207 00:11:51,520 --> 00:11:54,600 Speaker 1: its materials. Uh. And of course the other option is 208 00:11:54,640 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: always to try and find a way to reuse whatever 209 00:11:57,559 --> 00:12:01,280 Speaker 1: it is that that you have that's become obsolete. Some 210 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:05,320 Speaker 1: people convert old computers into a really you know, cheap 211 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 1: server or just a storage device, so they keep it 212 00:12:08,640 --> 00:12:10,640 Speaker 1: in use. They're just not using it as their primary 213 00:12:10,679 --> 00:12:13,760 Speaker 1: machine anymore. That's true. UM. As a matter of fact, 214 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 1: my my wife's aforementioned iPod, the screen went bad, but 215 00:12:18,440 --> 00:12:21,480 Speaker 1: it still works great as a as a portable hard drive, 216 00:12:22,440 --> 00:12:24,960 Speaker 1: So you know, you strip the music off of it 217 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:26,920 Speaker 1: and it's it's still functions as a hard drive. You 218 00:12:26,920 --> 00:12:29,040 Speaker 1: just can't see. You can't use as a nipod anymore 219 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:31,680 Speaker 1: because you can't see the information on the screen. UM. 220 00:12:31,760 --> 00:12:37,240 Speaker 1: And uh, Honestly, what what Jonathan is saying to UM, 221 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:40,440 Speaker 1: I think is that consider what you're doing with it. 222 00:12:40,480 --> 00:12:42,640 Speaker 1: If you can make your computer or your electronics last 223 00:12:42,640 --> 00:12:45,400 Speaker 1: a little bit longer, um, that's also helping keep it 224 00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:47,320 Speaker 1: out of the out of the landfill. So if you 225 00:12:47,320 --> 00:12:50,280 Speaker 1: can reuse it in some other way or you know, 226 00:12:50,520 --> 00:12:53,679 Speaker 1: a simple upgrade, then you're you know, changing one board 227 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:55,960 Speaker 1: instead of the entire machine. Right, you could even be 228 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,480 Speaker 1: a hand me down, you know, you could. You could 229 00:12:59,080 --> 00:13:01,720 Speaker 1: instead of just throwing away your computer, if someone else 230 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:04,600 Speaker 1: needs it, you could always donate it to them. Um, 231 00:13:04,720 --> 00:13:08,720 Speaker 1: and make sure you wipe off any information on that 232 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:13,120 Speaker 1: computer before you give it to anyone else. I just recently, 233 00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:17,160 Speaker 1: for instance, as a personal example, I purchased a used 234 00:13:17,320 --> 00:13:21,160 Speaker 1: Xbox to have a second Xbox at home. Don't judge me, 235 00:13:21,679 --> 00:13:25,840 Speaker 1: and uh, I needed a second Xbox, and I did, 236 00:13:26,000 --> 00:13:27,640 Speaker 1: and I got home and I plugged it in to 237 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:29,480 Speaker 1: make sure it worked, and it was working just fine, 238 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:31,200 Speaker 1: and I thought, hey, you know what I should do. 239 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:34,800 Speaker 1: I should check and see if whomever owned this before 240 00:13:34,840 --> 00:13:37,199 Speaker 1: me had an Xbox Live account and see if their 241 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 1: information is still on here, because that would be irresponsible 242 00:13:40,280 --> 00:13:42,040 Speaker 1: of them to do that, and I should, as a 243 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:47,120 Speaker 1: responsible person, deleted if that's the case. Sure enough, there was, 244 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:49,720 Speaker 1: there was all this information on there. There was an 245 00:13:49,760 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: account information I could have possibly activated that account through 246 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:57,920 Speaker 1: the Xbox Live and and the next thing you know, 247 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 1: I've got free Xbox Live. Until the some realizes they're 248 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: being charged for something that they're not using. UM. So yeah, 249 00:14:05,360 --> 00:14:08,599 Speaker 1: definitely wipe your information before you whether you're going to 250 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:12,400 Speaker 1: recycle it, throw it away, give it to someone, wipe 251 00:14:12,440 --> 00:14:15,560 Speaker 1: your information first. You don't want that getting in the 252 00:14:15,559 --> 00:14:18,400 Speaker 1: hands of somebody. And and don't throw it away. Recycle 253 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:20,480 Speaker 1: it or give it away, but don't throw it away. 254 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:24,120 Speaker 1: But and you know, I'm looking at using an old 255 00:14:24,120 --> 00:14:28,120 Speaker 1: computer that I have as a possible media PC now, um, 256 00:14:28,200 --> 00:14:32,160 Speaker 1: mainly as a storage device because I've got an old 257 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:36,480 Speaker 1: CPU just sitting around not doing anything. And uh, I thought, well, hey, 258 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:38,080 Speaker 1: you know that would be a good way to to 259 00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:40,480 Speaker 1: put to you. So since we had our little podcast 260 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 1: about media centers, I thought, hey, why why am I 261 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 1: not doing this? So I may actually do that. You 262 00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: got inspired, did you? All right? Well? Um, oh, we 263 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:53,800 Speaker 1: were going to mention one other update. We did talk 264 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:58,040 Speaker 1: in a previous podcast about a pretty nasty material that 265 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 1: is found in things like plasmid displays and solar panels, 266 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:05,400 Speaker 1: even to produce the panels. Correct, Yeah, you're talking about 267 00:15:05,640 --> 00:15:09,120 Speaker 1: nitrogen trifluoride. Yes, our old friend nitrogen trifluoride. That now, 268 00:15:09,160 --> 00:15:12,200 Speaker 1: if you recall, if you listen to that podcast, we 269 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:18,160 Speaker 1: mentioned that nitrogen trifluoride is seventeen thousand times more powerful 270 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:22,200 Speaker 1: at holding in heat than carbon dioxide and the atmosphere, 271 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:26,320 Speaker 1: in the atmosphere and that. But but because for the 272 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:28,840 Speaker 1: longest time, most people thought there wasn't really that much 273 00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: of it in the atmosphere at all. No one really 274 00:15:31,760 --> 00:15:34,160 Speaker 1: thought about it in terms of global warming. They just 275 00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:36,760 Speaker 1: thought it was it wasn't a player in the global 276 00:15:36,760 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: warming scheme of things. Um, But it turns out that 277 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:43,280 Speaker 1: there is some in the atmosphere. And recently Fox News 278 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 1: broke a story that there's more than we thought, four 279 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:49,720 Speaker 1: times more of it in the atmosphere than we thought. Yeah, 280 00:15:49,880 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 1: so four times the amount of what of a gas 281 00:15:52,920 --> 00:15:56,840 Speaker 1: that is seventeen thousand times more harmful than carbon dioxide 282 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: from a global warming perspective. So that's another good reason 283 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 1: to make sure that you find a way to recycle 284 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: your electronics. Also, it just means that manufacturers have to 285 00:16:06,520 --> 00:16:08,640 Speaker 1: be careful and try and find different ways to produce 286 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:13,400 Speaker 1: these electronics without creating these toxic materials in the first place. Yeah, 287 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:17,720 Speaker 1: I think you're right. Do you have anything else said 288 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:20,880 Speaker 1: for this wonderful topic? I am too. Well, if you 289 00:16:20,920 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: want to learn more, you can read how e ways 290 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: works at how stuff works dot com. That's live right now, 291 00:16:26,760 --> 00:16:31,200 Speaker 1: and we'll talk to you again soon For more on 292 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:33,760 Speaker 1: this and thousands of other topics. Does it how stuff 293 00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:37,040 Speaker 1: works dot Com Let us know what you think. Send 294 00:16:37,040 --> 00:16:43,760 Speaker 1: an email to podcast at how stuff works dot com. 295 00:16:43,920 --> 00:16:46,480 Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 296 00:16:46,800 --> 00:16:48,040 Speaker 1: It's ready, are you