I used Bing.com as my search engine as I have only used it a few times before and I wanted to see how the search engine compares to the others.
I searched using the following phrases: “computer parts harmful effects” and “electronic recycling process.”
The two best websites I found were http://www.greencitizen.com/harmful_effects.php and http://reference.findtarget.com/search/Computer%20recycling/.
The first websites is by an organization called Green Citizen. They are funded by their daily operation of repairing electronics to run more efficiently and extending their product life as well as recycling electronics in an environmentally safe manner. Their mission is “to create a cleaner environment by addressing the growing electronic waste crisis” (http://www.greencitizen.com/who_we_are_overview.php). The information provided is current because the main page that I looked at covers the chemicals / elements in electronics and their effects on human life. They provide a nice little graph that breaks down the effects of each upon human life. The useful arguments that are provided on this site is just the list of defects and problems that can be caused. However, the problem with the site, although I believe it to be reliable is that the site does not cite where they received the information from. One problem with this site is that they might be giving a little bit of outdated information although it still applied to today. (For example, they give a stat that computer screens have a given amount of lead in them. However, I believe this is for CRT monitors and not most of the new versions that are being sold today. Though there is this switch in types of monitors, old monitors are still being thrown out and creating environmental problems.)
The second website I used is by findtarget.com. This website’s mission is to provide information about various topics. The site is funded through advertising found on its webpages. I believe the information is reliable because it presents the material in an objective manner and includes information on both how electronics are actually recycled and how some are just thrown into landfills whether or not they are in US or foreign soil. The information provided is backed up by references. The point of view that is missing from this website as well as the previous one is the point of view from the people who actually suffer from the pollution of electronic materials and the harmful effects that are caused to people by the mining and production of these computer components.
Human health organizations would probably have information about the populations that suffer from the disposal of electronic equipment.
The only problem I can find with the first site is that it does not address the exportation of e-waste to developing countries. The second site gives some good figures that I think we can use in our presentation.
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