A survey has revealed that people in the UK are expected to chuck away 10.5 billion of redundant electronic items this year. This includes TVs, games consoles and mobile phones. The company behind the survey, Envirofone, are trying to promote the message that we can avoid all this kit going to landfill.
Whilst many electronic products are thrown away, a significant amount are just hoarded somewhere around the house. This raises questions as to whether we really need all this modern gadgetry or are we relying on it too much? It would be an interesting experiment to try and manage without our mobile phone, laptop or GPS for the day. Imagine walking to the nearest phone box to make a call instead of using our mobile or landline. Or we could pick up a pen and write a letter rather than sending a text or an email. And how about opening a map and reading how to get from A to B instead of switching on the GPS?
It is worth speculating whether we would miss the modern gadgets we now take for granted after a period of doing without them. The trouble is some of us can remember standing in the rain waiting to use a phone box and also wondering what happened to that letter we posted.