Dealing with Health Hazards in the High-Tech Electronics Industry: PART 2

The Social Network Show welcomes back Ted Smith to the June 18, 2014 episode.

Ted Smith, Co-Founder and Coordinator of the International Campaign for Responsible Technology continues with the discussion of hazardous materials or "e-waste" created by the production of computer chips, computers, mobile devices, etc. Hear Ted talk about the solutions to the problem, with denial of the problem being the first necessary step. Hear where the e-waste is ending up in the world and how the profits of corporations and the pressure of Wall Street affect decisions in the industry.

For more information on this topic, check out the following:

International Campaign for Responsible Technology

Good Electronics

Asian Network for the Rights of Occupational and Environmental Victims (ANROEV)

Invisible Hands: Voices from the Global Economy (Voice of Witness)

Ted Smith is founder and former Executive Director of Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, a grass roots environmental coalition formed in 1982 in response to environmental pollution caused by electronics manufacturing in Silicon Valley, California. Ted is also co-founder and Chair of the steering committee of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, which is working to promote life-cycle producer responsibility within the high-tech electronics industry. In addition, Ted is co-founder and Coordinator of the International Campaign for Responsible Technology (ICRT), an international network committed to working for the development of sustainable, non-polluting technologies. He has served on the boards of several environmental non-profit organizations and has been an environmental stakeholder in formal processes convened by Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Best Buy and Sprint. Ted was recognized by the Dalai Lama for his environmental leadership. In 2006 he was named a Purpose Prize Fellow. In 2008 he was voted “Environmentalist of the year” by the Santa Clara County League of Conservation Voters. He is a widely published author and respected speaker, and is co-editor of Challenging the Chip: Labor Rights and Environmental Justice in the Global Electronics Industry published by Temple University Press, 2006 He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Stanford Law School and was a VISTA Volunteer in Washington, DC from 1967 - 1969.