American TV Goes Digital: Cue The E-Waste
By Jenn | July 14, 2009
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As ya’ll probably know, TV broadcasting in the U.S. recently switched to digital technology. This went largely unnoticed for cable subscribers, but for anyone who doesn’t pay for that service it meant that all stations went dark unless one of three things happened:
- Start paying for cable
- Upgrade (most likely perfectly fine) TV to a new digital one
- Purchase a digital converter box to retrofit current TV
What got under my skin is that all of these options require me to pay money for a service which is considered free (network TV)… which frustrated me, because I hardly watch TV in the first place. But I do like having it around for when I’m really just incapable of anything but vegging out on the couch. So, then: option 1 was out because I don’t watch enough to justify paying for cable (also I think it’s a scam, what with all the ads and overabundance of mindnumbing programming). Option 2 was out because my TV is perfectly fine and I’m not going to upgrade and throw out a functioning box crammed full of toxicity just to replace it with another expensive, albeit thinner and lighter, toxic box.
Also, let’s talk about option 2 for a second. If I had decided to upgrade my TV– perhaps it was old or close to death– then I’d have to dispose of my current hulking monster. The unsatisfying options for that are:
- Recycling my old TV: NYC currently doesn’t have a good electronics recycling program. On their recycling page they mention the digital conversion but offer no ideas on how to appropriately dispose of our old TVs. And even if I could find somewhere to bring my old TV, I’d have to pay very close attention to make sure it wasn’t just being offloaded to a developing country: From the Basel Action Network: “The toxic waste watchdog organization, the Basel Action Network (BAN), is warning consumers to be extremely careful about where they take their old TVs for recycling following the nationwide conversion from analog-to-digital broadcasting. They are urging consumers to only use qualified e-Steward recyclers, the only list identifying electronic waste recyclers that will not export toxic TVs and other electronic waste to a developing country. …about 80% of those companies calling themselves “recyclers” in North America will simply export your old TV to countries like China, India, or Nigeria where the toxic leaded glass, cadmium, and brominated flame retardants which are found in materials in old TVs will poison villagers using primitive technologies to recover some materials, and then dump or burn the rest of the electronic waste.”
- Throwing my old tv in the trash, where it will end up in a landfill and leach toxic chemicals into the groundwater and soil.
Ok, so since I didn’t choose options 1 nor 2, I must have gone with 3: Purchase a digital converter box to retrofit current TV. I did. Sure, this is another electronic box full of plastics and metals and who knows what kinds of chemicals. But it’s a small box, and I hope it’s the least-worst of the options.
What really makes me ponder though, is that many folks probably used this transition as an excuse to dump their perfectly fine TVs and upgrade to a flat-panel. Which is kind of understandable, from a consumer point of view– but I’d have hoped the government could have anticipated this massive e-waste tsunami and prepared suitable recycling programs in advance for it.
The price we’re paying for these types of unnecessary “upgrades” is so much higher than many realize– it’s not just the $300 deal we pay for the TV at a superstore, it’s the price of the manufacture and shipping of the new machine, and the ignominious end of life for the old one, and the pollution problems which stick around far longer than we can comprehend.
/rant.
How were you affected by the digital conversion?
[Image by Aron Escobar via Creative Commons]
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Topics: Media |
I agree - for a transition that was supposed to be cost-free, it’s pretty sucky. We ended up going with a combination of 1 and 3. I refuse to purchase a new TV!
We got a converter box (don’t forget the additional cost of a digital antennae), but couldn’t get good reception, so we went with THE CHEAPEST LEVEL of cable. It cost $12.23/month ($7.95 with taxes) from Comcast. Cable companies have to offer this most basic of cable by law, but you have to really search for it on their web sites.
Please note that we don’t get the extra digital channels from APT through Comcast, nor do we get HDTV (but since our TV isn’t HD, who cares?) We kept the converter box/antennae and use it on the TV in the aviary (our African Grey parrot likes to watch TV with us).
the whole e-waste thing is pretty serious - at least NYC has been working towards it, and many communities do have pickup.
after thinking about e-waste a lot last year I just decided to move my old tv, and by old, I mean 25 years old or so! we haven’t even bothered to plug in the cable on the other tv after rearranging the house, and we haven’t missed it much, either.
We were not affected… our TV was already compatible. There’s another option you could consider: veg out in front of a movie and forgo TV on TV. Watch TV online instead.
I bought the converter and a new antenna, spending about $40 overall. And now I get 3 channels. THREE. (Not counting the spanish and religious channels, of which there are many in Texas.) Hardly worth my $40. Recently, I did have to recycle an old computer monitor, and found my resources to be extremely limited. I had never heard the part about electronics being shipped overseas, and I took mine to Goodwill, who said they recycle them for parts. Now I am suspicious about where that monitor will end up.
I have basic cable, as otherwise I get no service. Since there is only one cable provider in town (satellite is, in my opinion, a different service), I had no choice in the matter. I don’t like the further privatization of what used to be considered basic free services.
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