[sdiy] RoHS

[Rainer Buchty]

>So... How is that for proof that electronic devices with leaded
>components aren't the problem, that people who discard them are the
>problems? :-)

No proof.

One day you're gone and your heirs (or whoever else) has to clean up the
mess, dumping a gazillion of antique computers and useless cell phones
where you might not even get service for anymore.

What you do is just delaying that process.

Where I can understand that someone keeps their old computers (still
have my AIM65, ZX81, TI99/4A, various C64+C128D including peripherals)  
for sentimental reasons, I just don't get the point about having 30 cell
phones.

Similarly, I don't get it why people keep their old x86 machines (apart
from maybe 1 or 2 which run some old, *still required and actively used*
software which doesn't play nicely with modern x86 or OS incarnation).

Just because you collect that stuff in the basement, you're *not* 
reducing waste but only postponing the dumping process.

So why did I jump on this:

When my grandpa died, we had to clean his house -- and in the end dumped
several cubic meters(!) of scrap metal which he kept for building
storage shelves, several dozen used tires which he kept cause they would
still run a couple of 100 miles (in case he found the right wheel rims
in the scrap metal plus a car which they might fit on), and a gazillion
of yoghurt mugs (which he used for growing plants from seeds) plus
cut-open tetrapacks used for freezing cherries, berries, and whatever
else he grew in his garden. One of the beds he grew tomatos in was an
old sailing boat filled with soil which he put on top of his garage,
extending acreage... Talk about the fun of getting rid of that (mind
you, in Germany we measure ground in square meters, not acres...).

So for the sake of those who come after you: *don't* keep old stuff just
for the sake of keeping it or possibly repairing it after your
retirement, 20 or more years in the future. And no, you are *not*
helping the environment with turning your basement into a landfill.

Rainer