Green Options

When your old computer, cell phone, or MP3 player becomes obsolete, what do you do with it? Put it on the curb? Recycle it? Donate it?

No matter what you do, your “e-waste” may just end up in one of several African countries with a thriving computer-salvaging market. An estimated 45 million tons of electronic waste make their way from the U.S. and the U.K. to Kenya, Nigeria, India, China, and other developing countries each year. And much of that waste is unusable and ends up in landfills when no recycling facilities for unusable materials are available, such as in Lagos, Nigeria. Most landfills are near slums, where children and adults pick through garbage trying to salvage food or goods they can sell.

Unfortunately, e-waste is full of toxic materials such as lead, mercury, arsenic, and cadmium that are slowly poisoning those living in proximity to the dumps, including the many children who depend on dumps for their livelihoods. Since many of the dumps are located near swamps or other watershed, toxins are slowly leaching into already-unsafe water supplies. Nigeria’s University of Ibadan warns that children exposed to e-waste in theses areas face serious health risks for long-term cancer, particularly in the lungs, and research in China indicates elevated levels of lead in children living in areas where e-waste dumps are situated.

When I began Eco Child’s Play almost a year ago, I pledged to invest in Kiva loans with a portion of the income the blog may generate. Even with all the recent changes to Eco Child’s Play, I still plan to maintain this small gesture of social responsibility. If you are not familiar with Kiva, this organization helps you empower an entrepreneur in a third world country by lending small amounts of money (as low as $25) to a specific entrepreneur, helping end global poverty one person at a time. Once you make a loan, you will receive email updates about the businesses you are supporting. A typical loan lasts 6-12 months.

Our second Eco Child’s Play Kiva loan goes to Jazmin Sanchez. According to Kiva,

Jazmin owns a small restaurant in Guayaquil, Ecuador. She has operated this small business for a year now, but she spent many years learning how to run a restaurant from her mother who was in the same line of work. Jazmin used her first Mifex and Kiva loan to purchase raw materials and ingredients for her business such as rice, butter, flour eggs, and dishes. She also renovated the portion of her home she uses as the restaurant. Jazmin attends to her clients closely and they are please with the quality food and service she provides.