Yay! New gadgets, more e-waste

September brought the release of the new iPhone 5 from Apple. Technology junkies got their new fix. The new gadget is sleeker and faster to please the appetite of the vogue techno fashion world.

The new phone is so well received that the $25 adapter required to work with the rest of the world's infrastructure to power it is a charge Apple can add on like the airlines do for luggage. The consumers love it!

I live in this world, specifically America, and must be bought into the idea of a consumption economy, so Apple gets the normal atta-boy for its contribution to a healthy economy.

As a garbage man, my biggest concern always lies in the waste stream. In the case of Apple, this phone with its adapter requirement and enhancement will create millions of pounds of e-waste through obsolete cords, car radio adapters, hotel and airport docking stations and consumer retro fits.

Since garbage men can be sarcastic and have an understanding of the nature of humans, only a pile of unusable cords may take my eye from the newest gadget available in enough time so the Earth's resources don't disappear.

DESI RENO

Modesto