Old Electronic Waste Piling Up? Here Are 11 Ways To Upcycle Your E-Waste Instead Of Dumping It!
Mobile phones, computer monitors, motherboards, television sets, refrigerators, chargers, air conditioners, headphones, and other electronic equipment are the trickiest when it comes to disposing them off. Most of us have no clue about the correct way to discard them and also don't know what do to them.
In this age of rapidly growing technological advancements we are all caught in the vicious cycle of throwing away and buying new electronic products. Little do we think about the massive environmental impact e-waste causes. According to a study, India is now the fifth largest producer of e-waste, roughly discarding 18.5 lakh tonnes of electronic waste each year.
But do we care? Not really. We are much too worried about laying our hands on the latest iPhone device. A study by Assocham-Frast & Sullivan stated, that five lakh child labourers are also engaged in illegal management of e-waste, reports The Times of India.
The report states that among the cities, Mumbai leads with the highest volume of e-waste, followed by Delhi and Bengaluru.
Even as the Indian government is spreading awareness regarding environmental hazards of electronic waste (ewaste) under its Digital India programme, over 5,000 illegal e-waste processing units are still running.
These processing units carry out e-waste collection, trading, dismantling, segregation of components, repairing, refurbishing, metal recovery and recycling of electronic wastes, exposing the workers and the environment to hazardous conditions.
It's time we took cognizance of these issues and did something at an individual level to make a difference. Re-purposing is a challenge, but with these creative DIYs, it's definitely worth a try:
1. Turn your old bulbs into flower pots
Instead of directly trashing them, hold on to those light bulbs, they turn into beautiful pots for flowers and other decorative indoor plants.
Instead of directly trashing them, hold on to those light bulbs, they turn into beautiful pots for flowers and other decorative indoor plants.
2. Jazz up your clutch with old CDs.
All you need to do is cut the CDs into random shapes and glue them on to a plain coloured clutch. Viola! Just like that, you have a jazzy party accessory.
3. Build your own Macaquarium.
Any old machine or electronic device can be used for this purpose - all your need to do is dismantle an old computer piece by piece, completely empty out the innards and put in artificial plants and fishes to make it look like an aquarium. The DIY started with old Mac computers, hence the name.
4. E-Waste jewellery
A circuit board pendant in rainbow colours, earrings made of computer keyboard buttons, plug into the new trend of e-waste jewellery. There are people making funky pendants out of integrated chips, and earrings out of compact transceivers and microchips.
5. A coffee table
The Electri-City is a miniature cityscape made from recycled printed circuit boards and other waste electronic components with an integrated lighting system, states this website. This coffee table, Electri-Cities, designed by them, allows people to play music and check emails on it and it also contains a miniature sci-fi metropolis.
6. Floppy disk plant holder
Take four floppy disks and make it into a container, use an empty yogurt jar to place the plants in it. Place the plant in the floppy disk container and you will have your floppy disk planter.
7. Electronic circuitry used to make Mandalas
Leonardo Ulian's Technological Mandala uses electronic circuitry. Circuits are neatly arranged in perfect symmetry and it's possibly the most creative representation of e-waste. A mandala, which is Sanskrit for 'circle' or 'discoid object', is a geometric design that holds a great deal of symbolism in Hindu and Buddhist cultures. Mandalas are believed to represent different aspects of the universe and are used as instruments of meditation.
8. Become an e-waste artist
Bored Panda
If you have an inclination for art and crafts, e-waste artist could be a good career option, and Vishwanath Mallabadi is your inspiration. According to BoredPanda, Mallabadi is a designer, passionate about expressing ideas using e-waste.
He says, "My intent is to make e-waste a displayable at the same time portray aesthetic meaning. Given a new life to e-waste is surprisingly a gorgeous functional works of art."
9. Apparel out of electronic material
This is the world of electronics sewn right into your clothes! It's mostly used in sportswear, that are embedded with sensors and other technologies to improve performance through controlling wind resistance. It can calculate biometric data, such as pulse rate, temperature, muscle stretch, heart rhythm and physical movement.
10. Cassette lamps
You need 8 cassette tapes (preferably the ones with clear plastic), 1 sheet thick crafting foam, fevicol and crafting knife or scissors. Run a line of glue along the side edge of one tape and a line of glue along the front edge of another tape. Make any adjustments to square them up, then allow the glue to dry for 24-72 hours.Place the cassettes onto the foam and trace around it, then cut out the base with scissors or a crafting knife. Place the LED lights into the lamp and your good to go.
11. Old media players into portable drives
Your old portable iPod jukebox could still come in handy as an extra backup spot or portable drive. You just need to connect the iPod to iTunes and checking the 'enable disk use' box will allow you to drag and drop files at will.
India is already taking steps to tackle the e-waste problem; Bhopal is all set to have it's own e-waste clinic, wherein, the facility will process electronic waste generated from households and commercial establishments. But the best way to get an immediate and a large scale change, is to start at an individual level, the above hacks will help you follow the right track when it comes to discarding electronic waste.
Illustration By Ranak Mann