The Threat of E-Waste in Africa – Open Source to the Rescue
There has been a lot of concern about the level of electronic junk and rubbish that is flooding Africa. Most of this unwanted waste comprises used computers and accessories that mostly come from advanced countries where the pace of technological change is far beyond that of Africa.
Virtually all African governments are not sure how to contain this rubbish dumping in their countries. They are caught between the desire to promote ICT education among their population through the use of cheap computers that are coming and the uproar from environmentalists about the damage this is causing to the continent’s environment. In fact, it is a difficult position for any government.
Most African countries are now establishing community-driven ICT centers where venues are set up and equipped with computers (mostly those brought in from the West as waste) for use by a given village or community. . However, most of these initiatives usually do not go far due to the relatively high overall cost of running the computers. Needless to say, the cost of running a pirated copy (which is what we can afford) of Microsoft Windows XP on a computer designed for Windows 95 and 98.
Most used computers brought to Africa pretty much end up in the landfill because most people just can’t get it to run the resource of an operating system called Windows. It is in this sense that I strongly believe that African governments can make some profit from the electronic “waste” that comes in by looking for very easy, cheap and powerful software alternatives called Open Source.
A computer is not complete without the software necessary to run it. If you have the computer and you don’t have compatible software, then you still can’t use it. So if the computers are too old and running Windows on them is next to impossible, why not try a free and open source operating system like Ubuntu Linux and Fedora? Ubuntu, for example, can run on very old hardware with as little as 128MB of memory.
Such a resource efficient, powerful and free Linux operating system can breathe new life into computers that would otherwise be discarded as dead. So, in my opinion, if African governments really want to make sense of the environmental situation they are facing, then I think educating people and taking steps to promote resource-efficient software will go a long way.
All you have to do is restore used computers and install free software like Ubuntu and Open Office on them. Giving old computers a new lease of life through open source and free software will help reduce environmental degradation, improve people’s access to ICT, create jobs for restoration workers, and educate youth and the next generation. about better and free alternatives to Microsoft. resource hog and expensive products.
With Open Source, it’s a win-win situation. Share your thoughts.