'I don't know where to throw my old junk'<\/p>\n
Indonesia does not have a formal industry for the disposal and
\nrecycling of old electronic goods. As a result, discarded
\nhousehold electronic appliances and personal electronics such as
\ncomputers and cell phones have been piling up since their
\nwidespread introduction to the country in the early 1980s. Many
\nof these items contain carcinogenic substances that, if
\nimproperly disposed off, could damage the environment. The
\nJakarta Post asked some residents what they did with their old
\ngadgets.<\/p>\n
Ellysa, 32, is an art director for an advertising agency on
\nJl. Sudirman, South Jakarta. She lives on Jl. Brawijaya, also in
\nSouth Jakarta, with her family:<\/p>\n
I don't often change my electronic appliances. I pick
\nappliances that last a long time and don't add new features with
\neach new model. I changed my last cell phone after three years --
\nand that was after my friends bugged me to get a new one.<\/p>\n
I don't throw away the gadgets I no longer use. Some of them
\nare still being stored in my house. Some were traded in, and the
\nothers I gave to my relatives.<\/p>\n
I have a laser disc player back home. I wanted to sell it but
\nmy friend said it was hardly worth anything, maybe Rp 50,000
\n(US$5.55).<\/p>\n
I don't know where to throw away these electronic goods, which
\ncontain materials that could harm the environment. Maybe
\nmechanics could take them apart and use the parts to make other
\nthings?<\/p>\n
Richard Samuel Tumawas, 32, is a teacher at a Montessori
\nschool in Sunter, North Jakarta. He lives with his family at Jl.
\nFatmawati, South Jakarta:<\/p>\n
I do have gadgets, like a PDA, mobile phone, CD player and the
\nlike, but I don't think I qualify as a gadget-freak. I always
\nmake optimum use of the gadgets, until it is necessary to change
\nthem. I usually trade the old one in if I need a new one.<\/p>\n
The one thing that I update periodically is my computer. My
\nbackground is in information technology, actually, so I am quite
\nkeen on computers.<\/p>\n
Once I gave an old computer to a vendor, but I don't know what
\nhe did with it.<\/p>\n
--The Jakarta Post<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/i-dont-know-where-to-throw-my-old-junk-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }