On Fri, 17 Dec 1999, John A. Lind wrote:
> Investigate some time what gets used to create electronics. Start with the
> components (IC's and discretes). Work up to printed circuit board level
> with board laminates and solder, and then look at all the plastics at
> assembly level.
[big snip]
> Don't categorize "digital" as a completely "green" alternative to film and
> photochemistry. It's definitely not.
I think magnitude is important here. The chemical waste generated by
making the electronics for a digital camera is a one-off thing - once
the camera is made, that's it for the rest of its life (or at least
until a circuit is replaced due to failure). With silver photography
you have a smaller "pollution bill" for the camera electronics and an
ongoing "pollution bill" for the manufacture, processing & printing of
every film that goes through it. I think that advances in (relatively)
non-polluting printing technology (e.g. inkjets), miniaturisation &
increased reliability of electronics and improvements in storage &
display technology combine to make digital a bit greener overall. Until
you factor in the 18 month redundancy cycle that seems to be expected of
PCs at any rate.... but that's another rant.
--
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