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Anatomy of a cell
phone: Whose phone and what's inside?
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by Paul Tick
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Making a telephone call
seems so simple. But, believe it or not, when we make a call we often
unwittingly support extremist politicians, environmental degradation or
human rights abuses.
According to Mother Jones Magazine, "...since 1998, AT&T has given
$20,000 or more to each of over 100 right-wing politicians," including
Joe Lieberman and others who fought against health care reform and one
who even advocates for the death penalty for doctors who perform
abortions. AT&T gave the maximum amount allowed in both of George
W. Bush's presidential campaigns. Verizon Wireless gave money to
anti-choice congressmen and congresswomen, including one of the great
nutcases of all the nutcases in Congress, Michele Bachmann (she thinks
President Obama was not born in the U.S.).
Last June, the House of Representatives approved a bill that created
new electronic surveillance rules that protected telecommunications
companies from lawsuits resulting from the government's warrantless
eavesdropping on phone calls and viewing the emails of millions of
citizens. It may have been your phone company that lobbied for this new
law. According to MAPLight. org, Verizon, AT&T and Sprint all
contributed to every member of the House of Representatives who voted
to protect these companies. The telecommunications industry as a whole
is a major fighter against net neutrality legislation that protects our
free access to the internet, and thereby limits our freedom to get and
give information. Green America has rated a number of phone companies.
A few of them have good records, but some are better than others. See
the links below for more info. When we buy a cell phone (or any other
computerized gizmo), we should know a bit about what is behind all
those beeps and lights. Inside your cell phones you find a rechargeable
battery made with lithium that likely comes from mines in the fragile
ecological zones in Bolivia. The vibrator in your phone is probably
made from tungsten, of which three-quarters of the world's supply comes
from China. Lots more comes from the Congo, where miners are virtual
slaves, and various heavily armed terrorist groups fight for control of
the mines and the nation as a whole. Coltan, another important mineral,
is now so much in demand that it sells for almost $400 per pound.
Amnesty International points out that Rwanda has used military
operations to steal coltan from the Congo. According to Green America,
millions of people have died as a result of fighting over this
now-precious mineral. Tin is used for solder in circuit boards in
phones, earning those terror groups in the Congo an estimated $93
million from the tin mines.
As small as a micro-chips may be, it takes 66 pounds of materials to
make each one, including many toxic chemicals that pour into the
environment. Cell phones also contain mercury and lead, and I probably
don't have to tell you about the health and environmental disasters
caused by these substances. The iPhone, like so many other phones and
computers, is made in China by a company that is criticized for its
harsh working conditions. Apple admits that more than half of its
contractors don't meet its own labor standards, including standards on
child labor. While most of us are not about to give up the
technological benefits of our modern culture, there are important
things we can do to limit the damage from them. As with cars, where we
limit the amount we drive and carefully chose the products we buy, we
can do the same with our telephones, computers, etc.: We can limit our
use and choose the better of the bunch.
First, we should ask ourselves if we can live without a cell phone. If
not, there are links below to help you choose your company. You can use
Credo (formerly Working Assets). While there phones are still damaging,
the company itself has donated over $65 million in recent years to
groups chosen by its customers, such as the ACLU, Doctors Without
Borders, Global Fund for Women, Greenpeace, Planned Parenthood and many
more. Another cell phone company (and internet provider) is Earth
Tones, which delivers 100% of its profits to environmental groups. When
your phone is broken or out of date, it should never be tossed it into
the garbage. In New York State, all phone companies must accept them
back for recycling. Around the world there are literally hundreds of
millions of these products that need to be recycled. None of these
methods makes up for the damage of our technology (that will take your
activism). But each of us can minimize the damage while still
supporting worthwhile causes.
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Important
Links
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Go
to Greenamericatoday.org
and type in "telecommunications" for ratings on various phone companies.
For socially responsible phone companies, go to www.credomobile.com and www.earthtones.com.
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