This week I will meet up with David Kousemaker of TechTravels to interview him about his work on the issue of where our old gadgets end up. More specifically we will delve into a topic that the mainstream world only occasionally alludes to when they mention how “somewhere in China” our old computers and phones are painstakingly recycled in the most horrendous of conditions. Amazingly such an alarming statement is taken as almost cliché when you look at how rarely media outlets get deeper into this issue.
But over the past few years, David Kousemaker has done just that. In fact, he has gone beyond what most any other newspaper or reporter has ever uncovered in places like China, Indonesia, and Brazil, delving into not only what gets recycled but who does the recycling, how they live, where different phases of the process take place and so on. His findings have been documented in text and photos on his website, Techtravels.
The idea behind meeting David, besides learning first hand details about these people, places, and activities, is to also get a better picture of the global game of electronics disposal. With all the devices we have gone through and will go through as we upgrade, replace, and go for the next thing, what happens to all these gadgets? What impact are we who buy these devices and later get rid of them, having on society and the planet? This week, we get more answers to these and other questions…
My work on this site is not normally focused on breaking news, but this one just came out an hour ago and it involves the Plesner v. Louis Vuitton case we’ve been discussing over the past weeks. The judge in the Hague ruled today in favor of Plesner’s right to continue to show her painting, Darfurnica, and that her use of the image of a Louis Vuitton bag is both “functional and proportional.”
No word yet from either Nadia or the Vuitton side, but as a newfound voice for Darfur and freedom of expression, she will surely return to the podcast in the future. Click here for the initial report by Radio Netherlands regarding the court ruling.
For the past few months I have been watching online and listening to conversations offline about the initiative by a group of people here in Amsterdam which looks at how mobile phones are made and how their production effects people and the environment around the world. It is one of those difficult to address issues, because we are talking about a device that is so essential and so present in everyone’s life in almost every corner of the planet. And while we can be critical, perhaps, of the companies that produce them, we still need the device so sometimes the questions aren’t asked and the practices aren’t closely scrutinized.
Until now.
The concerned group of people involved in Fairphone have decided to build the world’s first ethically produced phone, as they explain it:
Our aim of fairness is simple: to not harm man or nature in creating our phone. Not in transporting or producing it. And not in acquiring the raw materials for it.
As their first step in researching and beginning on the production process of the phone, they recently went to Congo (DRC) to meet with artisanal miners and learn about their working conditions, as well as what they would want in terms of fair treatment and payment as the source of the raw materials that eventually make the devices function. In the process they also purchased raw cobalt and brought it back to the Netherlands to be used in their first prototype phones. Thus completing the very basic but very little known step one of building our mobile phones, the mining of raw materials.
After having learned all about their initial efforts to both build a phone and shed light on an issue with global impact, I decided to get involved as a journalist and a concerned citizen/phone user. My aim is to follow this process and pass on information to the public, to stimulate conversations that could help on the road to more ethical production of the devices we love and use so much.
More information and reporting to come. This was only my own journalistic step 1 towards getting to know fairphone and an industry that could use a good kick in the pants.
All over the world our transportation systems, food production systems, and overal infrastructure are being pushed more than ever before. With the onset of financial crisis and the reality of having less resources dedicated to repairing and renewing these systems, the reality of a multi-level failure, a crisis beyond what is now called a crisis, may very well be in our immediate future.
Eleanor Saitta is a researcher, hacker, artist, designer, and writer who has been looking into and speaking extensively about these issues around the world. In this podcast we will talk about the facts that have her concerned and that what perhaps can still be done… as well as what we are too late to do.
Just a few weeks ago Pauline was here on the podcast to update us about the violence in Ivory Coast, as Pro-Ouattara (the newly elected president) forces fought against Gbagbo (sitting president who lost the election) forces. As you may recall the danger was so clear and present that she was unable to leave her home and reported that most people were doing the same to avoid the risk of being caught in the cross fire.
Photo by flickr memeber: cupcaca
Since that report the world has watched as Pro-Ouattara forces overtook the capital and forcibly removed President Gbagbo. While this does mean the new President is finally able to claim the office and get to work, this also means numerous side effects of being in a country where the President, even if he was elected, came to power by using force and violence.
“the first signs are not encouraging. Ouattara started off in the worst imaginable conditions, his speeches lack compassion, and his FRCI army bears all the hallmarks of a rebel group. The FRCI is gradually gaining control over the city and seems to hunting for thieves and looters among its ranks. Neighborhood grocer Salif walked to the bakery this morning and was a witness to the execution of four “thugs” in military uniform who were about to drive off in a car without license plates.”
According to the UN High Commission for Refugee’s, over 1 million people have been displaced by the fighting over the past few months. They note the usual needs in such a situation, food and water, but an indicator of just how bad things are, they point out the need for medical assistance for gunshot wounds.
Yet another change of power brought on by violence, showing signs of being as violent as any other government before them.
Nadia Plesner is a concerned citizen of the world as well as an artist, and she’s deeply troubled by what has been happening in Darfur. She’s also frustrated with the lack of media coverage the topic recieves, while showbiz news has no such shortage of attention. In her painting “Darfurnica” as well as her other work, Nadia has been depicting images of the horrors that people live in Darfur, the political maneuvering that goes on, and images of what makes major media headlines instead of Darfur. In part of Darfurnica, there appears the infamous photo of the ghastly thin Sudanese child, adorned in Paris Hilton style with a chiwawa in one hand and a Louis Vuitton bag in the other.
This is the story of how the painting came together, and how LV would file a lawsuit against Nadia. Demanding that she not show her artwork which contains images of their bag, and calling for her to pay an expensive penalty (€5,000 per each day the painting is shown) if she doesn’t take down her work. The case is pending a decision in early May. In this podcast interview, we discuss the case as well as Nadia’s work in relation to Darfur.
Darfurnica
Nadia’s website which includes info on her Darfur initiatives which you can be a part of, as well updates about the case.
