Green groups appeal: Mind your e-waste this Christmas

“E-waste here, E-waste there, E-waste everywhere / It’s no fun for planet Earth to drown in our E-waste.”

That’s a modified version of “Jingle Bells” as sung by environmental advocates who, in a campaign launched Friday in Quezon City, urged Christmas shoppers to be mindful of the alarming volume of electronic wastes or discarded gadgets that pile up after the holiday gift-giving season.

“The lure of so-called hi-tech gadgets for gifts and even for personal enjoyment to celebrate Christmas with, brings with it the accompanying dread of e-waste, which can end up in dumpsites and landfills or are burned, contaminating the environment and putting the health of communities and other life forms at great risk,” said Primo Morillo of Philippine Miseror Partnership Inc. (PMPI).

“Changing gadgets every year increases e-wastes,” Morillo said as he asked shoppers to think twice about buying new gadgets just to be fashionable even though their old gizmos are still perfectly okay to use. “People buy the latest smartphones or tablets every year when they don’t even know how to maximize their features.”

Those who really need to buy new gadgets could do Mother Earth a favor by preferring products with reduced levels of toxic components or those containing cadmium, hexavalent chromium, lead, polybromindated biphenyls and polybrominated biphenyl ethers, among others, he said.

They should look for products with the RoHS logo, for example, which indicates that these gadgets had passed European Union restrictions on such hazardous substances.

PMPI, a group promoting “integral human development and social transformation,” teamed up with members of the EcoWaste Coalition in an anti-e-waste campaign that had them singing the modified Christmas carol Friday morning at the MRT North Avenue station.

The United Nations Environment Programme considers e-wastes “the fastest growing waste stream globally,” noting that one electronic device alone could contain as many as 60 harmful chemicals, according to EcoWaste project coordinator Thony Dizon.

Morillo said consumers can contact the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and his group for advice on the proper disposal of e-wastes through accredited recycling facilities.