Tag: consumerism

Covid-19 and Zoom University

The rise of e-waste pollution in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic

Lockdown, early 2020.

The Covid-19 pandemic that swept the world signalled the start of the majority of the population working or studying from home, via their own personal electronic devices.

The transition to Work-From-Home (WFH) schemes and online classes led to an increase in the consumption of personal devices such as monitors, laptops and other electronic accessories.

The average Work-From-Home (WFH) setup consists of multiple electronic devices, and often more than one monitor (Lovelace, 2020).

In the second quarter of 2020, the personal computing devices (PCD) industry saw a 11.2% year-on-year growth in the sales of desktops, laptops and other related devices (Yu et al., 2020). I myself am guilty of this, having purchased a new monitor to make attending classes from home more comfortable. With many people stuck at home with limited forms of entertainment, many turned to gaming as hobbies. The gaming industry also enjoyed a considerable amount of growth in the wake of the pandemic, with console sales increasing by 155% (Yu et al., 2020). Naturally, with greater consumption comes greater waste generation.

Besides causing the consumption levels of electronic devices to skyrocket, the pandemic also had a significant impact on the the e-waste chain, disrupting processes such as collection and transportation. For instance, the collection frequency of e-waste was affected, while a decrease in workers availability and safety was observed, as well as an increase in retrenchment (Dutta et al., 2021).

As established in my previous posts, there was already an emerging global problem of e-waste prior to the Covid-19 era. Thanks to the pandemic, the problem has escalated even more rapidly. It is thus even more imperative that we take action to address the rapidly escalating issue of e-waste pollution—before it’s too late.

References

Dutta, D., Arya, S., Kumar, S., & Lichtfouse, E. (2021). Electronic waste pollution and the COVID-19 pandemic. Environmental Chemistry Letters, 20(2), 971-974. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10311-021-01286-9.

Lovelace, B. (2020). Best computer monitors for 2020 under £500. Mirror. Retrieved 12 February 2022, from https://www.mirror.co.uk/tech/best-computer-monitors-2020-under-21799456.

Yu, D., Yu, K., & Tan, R. (2020). Implications of the pandemic-induced electronic equipment demand surge on essential technology metals. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption, 1, 100005. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clrc.2020.100005.

Overconsumption and Irresponsible Consumer Habits

E-waste can’t keep up with consumerism trends

Every 2020 iPhone released by Apple (Gartenberg, 2020).

Though it might be a hard pill to swallow, consumers like you and I are equally guilty in contributing to the global e-waste problem.

As Aaron Blum, co-founder and chief operating officer of ERI, stated,

“In our society, we always have to have the new, best product.”

This is a clear trend observed in society today, where middle-class consumers constantly purchase new tech devices even if they are not absolutely essential. One recent viral video by TikTok user @itskeyonn prompted a wave of people using his sound to show off their unboxing of their newly purchased iPads, with the belief that buying an iPad would help organise and improve their lives in some way. Over 3300 people have since hopped on the bandwagon, posting their videos as part of this trend. Did all these people really need that new iPad? It remains to be seen.

In this day and age, many of us consumers treat our expensive personal electronic devices as though they are disposable commodities. We discard old devices in favour of purchasing the newest models—even if those new models might not differ that much in specifications or features from our current devices.  This psychological craving for novelty drives consumers in the 21st century, highlighting this innate impulse to “buy how things make us feel”. Things like social influence, brand loyalty and sometimes just sheer habit all contribute to such consumer behaviour (Lee, 2020).

The next time you place an order for the newest iPhone model, think twice before you act. Consider: do you really need a new phone? Or is it just a “fear of missing out” and peer pressure that’s enticing you to cart out your purchase?

References

Gartenberg, C. (2020). How to choose between all the new iPhone 12 models. The Verge. Retrieved 6 February 2022, from https://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/21508433/apple-iphone-12-models-differences-comparisons-how-to-choose.

Lee, H. J. (2020). A study of consumer repurchase behaviors of smartphones using artificial neural network. Information (Basel), 11(9), 400. https://doi.org/10.3390/INFO11090400.