By David Vegezzi, Creative Director, Los Angeles

If the transition from 386 to 486 (both of which are long-obsolete PC models) still resonates loudly for you, then you have some idea of how far we’ve come the past 15 years or so. Of course, the seemingly exponential acceleration of tech improvements presents a fair share of problems–problems that extend beyond your feelings of inadequacy that can’t be quelled until you get your hands on the next Big Thing.

Electronic waste, or e-waste, is cause for serious environmental concern. Every time someone makes a device run more quickly, smoothly, or efficiently, a whole line of products becomes obsolete. Once that happens, those items become environmental burdens, and not just for us here in North America.

For example, did you know that, according to some sources, 80% of the e-waste generated in the USA is shipped to India, Pakistan and China? Once there, it is generally “recycled” (read: crudely dismantled) by unskilled workers who suffer enormous health consequences and release toxic substances into the air, the soil and the water.