The Physical Waste of the Digital Age - Gerry McGovern

Book of Leaves

‘Save the paper!’ is something we hear so often, but every email, every website loaded and attachment sent, has a carbon footprint. This waste is often tucked away in data centres and thus out of sight, out of mind. Gerry McGovern has been working with the internet since the 90s and is here to remind us that digital is very much physical. From waste produced by our electronic goods to what needs to change systemically to reduce our data use, Gerry is an absolute wealth of knowledge. Make sure to get a copy of his latest book World Wide Waste, or check out his podcast of the same name.

• [02:00] Gerry introduces himself
• [04:30] E-waste and data waste explained
• [09:30] Why tech devices are not made to be recycled
• [17:00] How companies and groups can stop contributing to child labour and e-waste
• [21:00] What’s the story with data centres?
• [29:30] Measures we can take to reduce our data use and energy consumption
• [34:25] When Ceara met a group of data centre staff from Meta.
• [41:00] Ireland as a mining friendly country

Also mentioned:

Right to Repair

Yes to Life, No to Mining

Fairphone eco-friendly modular phone company

Framework – modular design computer

CAIM Anti mining group

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