Consumption

It is difficult to realize that our patterns of consumption impact our economy and our environment. Recently a launch of Apple's new phone generated so much hype. Here is something to think about --

The processing capacity of digital electronic devices doubles about every two years (Moore’s Law), and this capacity increase is enabled by an expanded use of elements. For example, **computer chips made use of 11 major elements in the 1980s but now use about 60 (two-thirds of the periodic table!).** And the electronics sector isn’t alone. Engine turbine blades for aircraft are made of alloys of a dozen or so metals; motors and batteries of green-technology hybrid vehicles depend on several of the rare earths; advances in medical imaging have come about by the unique band gaps of elements such as gadolinium. It seems that there are no limits to what the imagination can create except for the fact that many of the metals.We need to understand how our technological demands are linked to the consequences of global extraction. are globally rare and, given the nature of current technology, non-substitutable.

Here is a great link to information about this issue from Yale 360 a great source of information on environmental issues. []