VCE Environmental Science

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Electric and electronic waste, including computers, monitors, keyboards, mobile phones and games consoles, are an increasing problem, in many parts of the world. This article, “Where computers go to die — and kill” describes the situation in a province of south-eastern China, where tonnes of toxic waste continue to be dumped, threatening the health of workers and residents. There is another article here: “Poison PC’s“. Find out what pollutants are contained in e-waste. How are these pollutants transported through the environment and how persistent are they? What are some of the human and environmental health effects of these chemicals? How can this type of contamination be minimised or prevented?

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Over 60 million games consoles were sold last year and this is one of the fastest growing markets in consumer electronics. These consoles contain toxic chemicals such as Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and Brominated flame retardants (BFR’s), which can cause health problems for unprotected workers and environmental pollution when disposed of. Greenpeace has created a website, “Clash of the Consoles” that compares the major companies in terms of hazardous waste content and their takeback or recycling policies. So how does your PS, Wii or Nintendo measure up?

Have you ever wondered what exactly is inside your ipod? People at Greenpeace were so worried about the toxic chemicals inside these slim and nifty mp3 players and how they were disposed of that they created a website campaign. Eventually, Steve Jobs from Apple Macintosh, posted this response about the environmental credentials  of Apple. Life Cycle Analysis is an investigation of the process by which a product is created, packaged, transported, used and disposed of; a cradle-to-grave analysis of the raw materials and processes used in it’s ‘lifetime’.

How Stuff is Made: A collection of short videos about the manufacturing process of some everyday items from jeans to jelly beans and chocolate to motorcycles.

Annie Leonard talks about the “Story of Stuff” - great animated, 20-minute video

Wikipedia on Life Cycle Assessment

The Australian Government on Life Cycle Analysis

Environmental Protection Authority on Life Cycle Thinking ( includes good student activities and questions).