#ewaste — Public Fediverse posts

My main workstation: a 14-year-old Lenovo IdeaCentre K410 from 2012, driving three 22-year-old Dell 2001FP monitors from 2004, running #Fedora #Silverblue. :fedora:

Say NO to e-waste. ♻️

https://linux-hardware.org/?probe=0966fbee39

#Linux #Fastfetch #CyberSec #MDM #NoEWaste #EWaste #RightToRepair

New push for #RightToRepair in #Maine aims to cut costs, reduce #ElectronicWaste

Vivien Leigh, August 13, 2026

"Advocates, lawmakers, and business owners have started a renewed push to help #Mainers fix #phones, #laptops, and other small #electronics more easily.

"Supporters set up a mock electronic-waste graveyard on Thursday to underscore the need for 'Right to Repair' reforms.

"Sheldon Arford owns Maine Computer Services, an independent repair shop. He showed nearly six computers that still work but are on their way to the recycling bin.

" 'They can't take the current version of Windows, and #Windows10 no longer gets security updates,' Arford explained. [Um, Sheldon, have you heard of #Linux ?]

"The business owner joined advocates and lawmakers for a mock memorial service focused on electronics that stopped working after their software expired, such as Windows 10 computers, #vacuums, #VideoGames, and over a dozen #Kindle models."

Read more:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/push-repair-maine-aims-cut-195219208.html

#SolarPunkSunday #PlannedObsolescence #RightToRepairLaws #MainePol #FixIt #EWaste #ReuseRepairRestore

The #EnvironmentalCost of #ArtificialIntelligence: #Carbon, #Water, and #LandFootprints

#AI’s rapid growth drives huge energy, water, and land use, raising environmental and equity challenges across its global infrastructure.

Date Published 3 Jun 2026

UNU-INWEH Report: Aczel, M., Chamanara, S., Matin, M., Farsi, A., Marwala, T., Madani, K. (2026).

"This report, Environmental Cost of Artificial Intelligence: Carbon, Water and Land Footprints, by the #UnitedNationsUniversity Institute for Water, Environment and Health ( #UNU - #INWEH ) on its 30th anniversary, examines one of the most underexplored consequences of AI’s rapid expansion: the environmental footprints of the energy required to power it. As artificial intelligence becomes embedded in economies, public services, research, communication, and everyday life, it depends on a growing physical infrastructure of #datacenters, advanced #chips, #CoolingSystems, #ElectricityGrids, #WaterResources, land, and #CriticalMineral supply chains. The report shows that AI is not only a digital technology, but also a material system with measurable #EnvironmentalCosts.

"The report moves beyond a carbon-only lens by quantifying the carbon, water, and land footprints associated with the electricity used to train, deploy, and operate AI systems at scale. Its central finding is that AI’s environmental costs depend not only on how much electricity is used, but also on where that electricity is generated and which energy sources power it. Every kilowatt-hour used by AI carries carbon, water, and land implications, and these footprints do not always move in the same direction: low-carbon electricity is not automatically low-water or low-land. The report also shows that AI’s footprint is shaped by both major infrastructure trends, including the rapid growth of data centers, and everyday use patterns, including model choice, output length, modality, and the growing use of text, image, and video generation.

"Importantly, the report frames AI’s environmental footprint as a governance and justice challenge, not only a technical problem. The benefits of AI often flow across borders and sectors, while the environmental burdens of data center siting, electricity demand, water withdrawals, #LandUse, MineralExtraction, and #EWaste can be concentrated in specific communities and regions. To address these risks, the report calls for a responsible AI ecosystem grounded in transparency, efficiency by design, equity and #EnvironmentalJustice, lifecycle responsibility, global cooperation, and sustainable use. By making AI’s carbon, water, and land footprints visible and comparable, the report provides a practical basis for integrating AI into energy, climate, water, and land-use planning, ensuring that innovation advances without shifting environmental costs onto vulnerable communities."

Download PDF:
https://unu.edu/inweh/collection/environmental-cost-of-AIs-Enrgy-Use-Carbon-water-and-land-footprints

#AIBoom #Electricity #Hyperscale #BigTech #BigData #CarbonFootprint #EnvironmentalRacism #EnvironmentalDegradation #NoisePollution #LightPollution #WaterIsLife #AIAgents #BotTraffic #GreenSpaces #Farmland #Prairies #Woodland #TechGiants #ProtectNature #NoDatacenters #EnergyConsumption #USPol #WorldPol #Datacentres
#DatacenterMoratoriums

"In a detailed report released last week, titled The Urgent Case Against #DataCenters, #FWW pointed to some of the 'documented harms caused by #AI and data centers,' including:

- Enormous #energy footprints: A single hyperscale data center can consume as much energy as 2 million US households.
- A lifeline for #FossilFuels: The thirst for fuel is being met by keeping old #coal-fired power plants running and by building new natural gas ones. [And restarting old #NuclearPlants]
- Skyrocketing electricity costs: Increased #EnergyDemand can raise residential rates, which soared 31% from 2020 to 2025 (compared to 4% from 2015 to 2020).
- Drained water resources: By 2028, AI data centers could use as much water as 18.5 million households, just for cooling their servers.
- An investment bubble: A handful of companies are investing in one another and increasingly turning to risky debt structures to hide the threat of the bubble.
- A litany of other harms: This includes massive amounts of electronic waste (#EWaste), unrelenting noise pollution, loss of #farmland, political instability from #deepfake videos, lost revenue from data center tax incentives, and #ChildEndangerment from #AI #chatbots."

#NoDatacenters #NoAI
#NoNukesForAI #UnrestrictedGrowth #WaterIsLife #NoisePollution
#AISucks #USPol

"In a detailed report released last week, titled The Urgent Case Against #DataCenters, #FWW pointed to some of the 'documented harms caused by #AI and data centers,' including:

- Enormous #energy footprints: A single hyperscale data center can consume as much energy as 2 million US households.
- A lifeline for #FossilFuels: The thirst for fuel is being met by keeping old #coal-fired power plants running and by building new natural gas ones. [And restarting old #NuclearPlants]
- Skyrocketing electricity costs: Increased #EnergyDemand can raise residential rates, which soared 31% from 2020 to 2025 (compared to 4% from 2015 to 2020).
- Drained water resources: By 2028, AI data centers could use as much water as 18.5 million households, just for cooling their servers.
- An investment bubble: A handful of companies are investing in one another and increasingly turning to risky debt structures to hide the threat of the bubble.
- A litany of other harms: This includes massive amounts of electronic waste (#EWaste), unrelenting noise pollution, loss of #farmland, political instability from #deepfake videos, lost revenue from data center tax incentives, and #ChildEndangerment from #AI #chatbots."

#NoDatacenters #NoAI
#NoNukesForAI #UnrestrictedGrowth #WaterIsLife #NoisePollution
#AISucks #USPol

"In a detailed report released last week, titled The Urgent Case Against #DataCenters, #FWW pointed to some of the 'documented harms caused by #AI and data centers,' including:

- Enormous #energy footprints: A single hyperscale data center can consume as much energy as 2 million US households.
- A lifeline for #FossilFuels: The thirst for fuel is being met by keeping old #coal-fired power plants running and by building new natural gas ones. [And restarting old #NuclearPlants]
- Skyrocketing electricity costs: Increased #EnergyDemand can raise residential rates, which soared 31% from 2020 to 2025 (compared to 4% from 2015 to 2020).
- Drained water resources: By 2028, AI data centers could use as much water as 18.5 million households, just for cooling their servers.
- An investment bubble: A handful of companies are investing in one another and increasingly turning to risky debt structures to hide the threat of the bubble.
- A litany of other harms: This includes massive amounts of electronic waste (#EWaste), unrelenting noise pollution, loss of #farmland, political instability from #deepfake videos, lost revenue from data center tax incentives, and #ChildEndangerment from #AI #chatbots."

#NoDatacenters #NoAI
#NoNukesForAI #UnrestrictedGrowth #WaterIsLife #NoisePollution
#AISucks #USPol

"In a detailed report released last week, titled The Urgent Case Against #DataCenters, #FWW pointed to some of the 'documented harms caused by #AI and data centers,' including:

- Enormous #energy footprints: A single hyperscale data center can consume as much energy as 2 million US households.
- A lifeline for #FossilFuels: The thirst for fuel is being met by keeping old #coal-fired power plants running and by building new natural gas ones. [And restarting old #NuclearPlants]
- Skyrocketing electricity costs: Increased #EnergyDemand can raise residential rates, which soared 31% from 2020 to 2025 (compared to 4% from 2015 to 2020).
- Drained water resources: By 2028, AI data centers could use as much water as 18.5 million households, just for cooling their servers.
- An investment bubble: A handful of companies are investing in one another and increasingly turning to risky debt structures to hide the threat of the bubble.
- A litany of other harms: This includes massive amounts of electronic waste (#EWaste), unrelenting noise pollution, loss of #farmland, political instability from #deepfake videos, lost revenue from data center tax incentives, and #ChildEndangerment from #AI #chatbots."

#NoDatacenters #NoAI
#NoNukesForAI #UnrestrictedGrowth #WaterIsLife #NoisePollution
#AISucks #USPol

"In a detailed report released last week, titled The Urgent Case Against #DataCenters, #FWW pointed to some of the 'documented harms caused by #AI and data centers,' including:

- Enormous #energy footprints: A single hyperscale data center can consume as much energy as 2 million US households.
- A lifeline for #FossilFuels: The thirst for fuel is being met by keeping old #coal-fired power plants running and by building new natural gas ones. [And restarting old #NuclearPlants]
- Skyrocketing electricity costs: Increased #EnergyDemand can raise residential rates, which soared 31% from 2020 to 2025 (compared to 4% from 2015 to 2020).
- Drained water resources: By 2028, AI data centers could use as much water as 18.5 million households, just for cooling their servers.
- An investment bubble: A handful of companies are investing in one another and increasingly turning to risky debt structures to hide the threat of the bubble.
- A litany of other harms: This includes massive amounts of electronic waste (#EWaste), unrelenting noise pollution, loss of #farmland, political instability from #deepfake videos, lost revenue from data center tax incentives, and #ChildEndangerment from #AI #chatbots."

#NoDatacenters #NoAI
#NoNukesForAI #UnrestrictedGrowth #WaterIsLife #NoisePollution
#AISucks #USPol

#MIT develops new way to recover critical metals from #EWaste

A multi-step process could produce 1.2 kilograms per day, but its viability depends on expanding #recycling efforts.

Elizabeth A. Thomson, November 24, 2025

"MIT researchers have developed a new, efficient way to recycle #gallium, #indium, and potentially other critical metals key to modern electronics from e-waste like discarded computer screens. The process could also be applied to waste streams from companies that create products containing these metals.

" 'Once optimized, our process could recover 1.2 kilograms of these metals per day,' says Antoine Allanore, a professor of metallurgy in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. He notes, however, that this can only happen if a great deal of e-waste is recycled, and currently there are no large-scale efforts to that end. The recycling rate for gallium and indium from e-waste is currently close to 0 percent.

"The work is important because gallium and indium are listed as critical metals by the United States and the European Union. That’s because they are only produced as byproducts from the #mining of other metals like zinc and aluminum, and those mining operations, in turn, are dominated by only a few countries, including China.

"For many reasons, it doesn’t make economic sense to open new zinc and aluminum mines solely for these byproducts, says Allanore. 'Can we instead recycle and recover these two critical metals from e-waste?'

"He and colleagues have developed a multi-step process to do just that. These steps range from first physically removing #LED chips and other sources of the metals from the e-waste, to exposing them to high temperatures to liberate chemical components. Many of these steps are familiar to industry."

https://mrl.mit.edu/article/mit-develops-new-way-to-recover-critical-metals-from-e-waste

#SolarPunkSunday #NoMining #EWasteRecycling #MetalsExtraction #Electronics

The hype I am seeing for "refurbished" or "renewed" hard drives for NAS usage seems like false economy to me. These drives need to be a heaps cheaper than they are to be the bargain that youtubers and tech blogs are saying they are. Some of these drives have in excess of 10,000 power on hours. It's been spinning for over a year and you're paying 80% of the original price?!

No thanks

#secondhanddrives #ewaste #falseeconomy #server #homelab #refurbished #refurb