Are we really Recycling?

We all think that we are recycling and doing the right thing by going green. After watching a clip from 60 minutes in my public health class I quickly began to think differently. Victoria Harbor, Hong Kong is one of the most toxic places in the world. It consists of tons of Electronic Waste. Here at this location many of the things that we Americans recycle are found. This location was to be kept a secret and was not supposed to be exposed. The people in Hong Kong used American wastes to make a profit. These recycled electronics led to them having the highest cancer causing dioxins in the world, the women were six times more likely to have miscarriages, and 7 out of 10 kids had too much lead in their system. The people doing this research spoke to an individual that worked at this wasteland they said that it was really hard to breathe there they can feel it in their windpipes and it makes them cough all the time. They burn their hands and ruin their bodies working with this waste. When asked why do they continue to do this if they are damaging themselves they say because it makes them happy to have his job and make some type of money.

E-wastes is the fastest growing in the United States. We recycle 130,000 computers a day and 100 million cell phones per year. The government officials and gangsters that know about this wasteland do not want any investigations being done and after a while began to threaten the people to leave and to stop doing investigations. So though we feel like we are recycle and doing good and trying to save our country, our wastes are being sent to other countries like China and they are using these wastes to make a profit, while doing so are harming themselves but feel that its fine because they are making a profit. Investigation has been done to see where these wastes were coming from. In Denver, Colorado a company that took the wastes said that these wastes were not being sent anywhere, but items were traced in China from that company. So it happens. After watching this video I think about whether or not being exposed would change how things and wastes are being sent out to this area in China. Even China’s government knew about this place and did not try to make a change.

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4586903n