The mining and extraction of lithium and coltan requires massive amounts of water and energy [1][2]. In African countries with very little regulation, land, lakes, and rivers are polluted as a result of mining.
And what do we use it for? To produce some 15+ million million devices that are deprecated after two years.
Yes, that is tragic and a disaster for those countries. It's just that more attention is paid to events that unfold within days rather than years.
Comments
The mining and extraction of lithium and coltan requires massive amounts of water and energy [1][2]. In African countries with very little regulation, land, lakes, and rivers are polluted as a result of mining.
And what do we use it for? To produce some 15+ million million devices that are deprecated after two years.
Yes, that is tragic and a disaster for those countries. It's just that more attention is paid to events that unfold within days rather than years.
[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/carbon-footpr... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coltan