Well, e-waste IS a massive worldwide problem, so you should be considering how you're purchases will be disposed and what effect that will have on the environment. Is that a worldview?
If you haven't seen Frontline's Digital Dumping Ground episode, it's worth watching: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/ghana804/video/vid...
From the site: "They basically are here to earn a living. But you can imagine the health implications."
It's not obvious to me that these poor people would be better off not recycling the e-waste. I certainly wouldn't fancy doing it, but if the alternative was starvation for my family I might consider it.
I'm not at all sure that it would benefit the people of Ghana if there was no e-waste.
As for dumping toxic waste that's a problem enabled by government/courts that don't function properly.
Further it's not clear in the video how the e-waste gets there. There's the implication that the West simply dumps it there, but clearly the governments of the West don't do that, nor do companies like Apple. Probably what happens is that Ghanian companies import it from e-waste collection companies in the West.
I find it funny that you fixate on one part of the overall sales pitch as offensive. Can you imagine a consumer that is thinking to themselves, "I need a laptop that has a 15" screen and is environmentally friendly. I don't really care about the color gamut but I would like to be assured that I am not going to kill the environment."
I think it's no secret that one of the reasons Apple products appeal to many people is that Apple promotes a left-wing political worldview.
When I am looking for a product to buy, I don't wish to have a political debate or have someone make any assumptions about where I stand on various political issues.
How exactly is stating that a product has less impact on the environment in any way political? Is there a brand of politics I'm not aware of that says that building piles of toxic waste is a good thing?
The people in Ghana who work on the e-waste must think it's a good thing (good meaning better than their alternatives) else they wouldn't be doing it.
We might not like the thought of them working with e-waste but until we provide them with a better alternative it's not right to remove their best opportunity to earn a living.
That's certainly an interesting take. Would you say the same thing about poor people that are earning their living as a result of war or other things that negatively impact the planet as a whole?
People should be allowed to engage in dirty, risky behaviour if it's their own choice. That covers the act of working in e-waste individually, as for any pollution it causes it's up to the authorities in Ghana to deal with that, but it could be that they feel the decrease in poverty of those engaged in e-waste outweighs the problem of pollution. That's for Ghana to decide though not us.
I am very much not a left winger, but I have no real problem with any company that advertises how easily recyclable their products are. I simply look at it as a selling point, because (eventually) I will need to dispose of the item and being easily recyclable will make it cheaper on me.
I think a reasonable philosophy is "clean up after yourself". I see no problem with advertising a product being able to easily meet that goal.
