[LUAU] eWaste Legislation, ecycling, and You

Mon Mar 3 14:48:11 PST 2008

Scott,

With respect, I submit that HOSEF (as a board and membership) should  
consider exiting the "eWaste" business, re-writing the governance  
documents as needed to effect this change.  As an "Open Source  
Education Foundation", HOSEF's mission should be advocacy and  
awareness, not entitlement or the environment.  While HOSEF has  
traditionally had a foot in both waters, the time may have come for  
HOSEF to "spin off" the eWaste side of things into a new, purpose- 
driven entity, with all its wood behind one arrowhead.   In this  
manner, both can proceed forward.

I have grave concerns that should HB 2509 and SB 2843 pass, and be  
signed into law, that HOSEF could fall afoul of the "manufacturer"  
designation, and most certainly be a "retailer", (you've already  
arranged for storefront), and thus be "on the hook" for paying the  
"fees" associated with these bills.    Cheap PCs?  Fugetaboutit.

California's equivalent law is structured such that the manufacturer  
and consumer bear the fees, and doesn't make a hobbyist, building a  
few computers in his basement for family and friends subject to an  
annual $5,000 fee.   Consider the impact on the small and medium  
business were all 50 states to pass a law like that proposed in  
Hawaii.   Such an entity would end up paying $250,000 per year just to  
be in business.

SB 2843 and HB 2509 *CAN'T* pass if Hawaii is to have a hi-tech  
industry.   Their combined weight, as law, would bomb the struggling  
computer industry in Hawaii back to the stone age.

Also, a newer PC may end up doing far less harm *long-term* to the  
environment, never mind the new 'lead-free' stuff, it may end up using  
far less power than the P4 you've got vibrating in the corner.
Anyone up for a head-to-head PowerTop <http://opensolaris.org/os/project/tesla/Work/Powertop/ 
 > cage bout? My 'new' (last year's) Linux deskside is down to 18 or  
so wakeups/s when idle. But I'm still dorking around with the  
kernel .config so that number might move by the time I have things the  
way I want them. Lots of time in deep C states, and the CPU area is  
cool to the touch.

And who else finds it curious that Digital TV becomes mandatory  
February 17, 2009, and this law will have come into effect?   Seems  
like a "cash grab" to me.  Want a new TV?  They're far more expensive  
in Hawaii, and not just due to shipping!  Moreover, it does *nothing*  
to reduce the incredible number of TVs that will end up in the  
landfill(s) as people "turn over" with the DTV transition.

All, please call your senator and representative and express a "No  
Way!" on these bills.

To be clear, I think the goal of reducing eWaste covered by SB 2843  
and HB 2509 is worthy, but the structure of both bills is a long way  
from a solution that is good for Hawaii.

Jim

On Mar 2, 2008, at 10:40 AM, R. Scott Belford wrote:

> Aloha
>
> I believe that everyone on these mailing lists understands that we  
> have tried to facilitate and foster the development of FOSS by  
> building learning opportunities around discarded computers.  There  
> are more people than I can remember these last 6 years who have had  
> the chance to learn or to do something otherwise impossible because  
> of our work.  All in all I would say that HOSEF has done pretty well  
> at catalyzing the adoption and awareness of FOSS.
>
> Our mission is fulfilled and our tax-exemption maintained by  
> repurposing discarded computers in order to promote and sustain Free  
> and Open Source Software.  We cannot quantify the value of this  
> amazing sandbox of donated hardware available for R&D and learning.   
> However, the work of moving metal can become a mission in itself,  
> and it has arguably slowed the work of sustaining FOSS because we  
> spend so much time promoting.
>
> It is with these thoughts in mind, and the emerging trend of eco- 
> friendly, low cost computers, that the legislation I reference below  
> is rather timely.  It essentially shifts the cost burden of ewaste  
> recycling to the manufacturers.  I wish we had considered this in  
> 2000.
>
> My gut feeling about this is that it seems a bit tragic because the  
> getting is good now when it comes to 'old' computers and precious  
> resource markets.  The average donation to HOSEF is a high-end PIII,  
> and lately we seem to get more P4s and LCD monitors than I have  
> counted.  We have begun requiring a donation for computers, and we  
> have a growing collection of volunteers on our donation mailing list  
> who take care of pickups.
>
> I've alluded to, and have just been a bit overwhelmed trying to  
> implement, a process to give pre-installed computers, firewalls, and  
> servers as gifts for certain membership levels.  I am all but  
> certain that there will be a steady flow of people willing to join  
> HOSEF at a $50, $100, or higher level if we provide a gift of a  
> computer, class, and even delivery.  What will happen if this proves  
> to be as beneficial to Hawaii as I conceive, but we lose our supply  
> of P4s, Dual Cores, and more?
>
> Contrarily, what happens when the growing number of ePC's drops the  
> average price to less than $100?  Obviously there is still a world  
> of difference, when you have next to nothing, between a $50 and $100  
> expense for technology, but the cost of electricity for a CRT is a  
> factor.  It is a great time to try to jumpstart innovation, hope,  
> and opportunity with technology.
>
> Language is just words, and Legislation is a function of how we  
> interpret these words.  My reading of these bills is that processing  
> computers, which is part of the definition of recycling, allows  
> entities like HOSEF to still reuse good computers.  If you take a  
> look at the recyclers who stepped in when we stopped taking so many  
> computers in 2005, you will appreciate the hundreds of thousands of  
> dollars in funding we lost and that could have been used for the  
> charity.
>
> All in all it does ask a bigger question for anyone looking for work  
> and money - why aren't we separating the metal and circuit boards  
> (treated as sheet metal by the EPA), the plastics, and the copper  
> CRT yokes for after markets that pay money for them?  The lead  
> infused glass of the CRT must still be processed as a toxic  
> material, but the rest of these components have a growing value to  
> industrialized and developing economies.  Handling the world's  
> ewaste is not HOSEF's problem, but seeing great learning  
> opportunities and valuable resourced discarded is arguably a concern.
>
>
> HB 2509
>
> RSS Feed
>
> feed://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/rss/HB2509.xml
>
> Text
>
> http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/Bills/HB2509_.htm
>
> Status
>
> http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/docs/getstatus2.asp?billno=HB2509
>
>
> SB 2843
>
> Text
>
> http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/Bills/SB2843_SD2_.htm
>
> Status
>
> http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/site1/docs/getstatus2.asp?billno=SB2843
>
> RSS
>
> feed://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session2008/rss/SB2843.xml
>
>
>
> Have you Joined HOSEF and become a member?
>
> http://www.hosef.org/civicspace/membership
>
> (please note that the site will be intermittently down 3-1 and 3-8  
> because our esteemed hosts at UH are getting electrical upgrades)
>
>
> --scott
>
> -- 
> R. Scott Belford
> Founder/Executive Director
> The Hawaii Open Source Education Foundation
> P.O. Box 2644
> Ewa Beach, HI 96706
> 808.689.6518 phone/fax
> scott at hosef.org
>
> HOSEF is a charitable non-profit with a mission to promote Free and  
> Open Source Software by building learning opportunities around  
> previously discarded but still functional computers.  We appreciate  
> the time you have taken to reach out to us. Beginning in 2008 we  
> have to strongly encourage kind contributors like yourself to make a  
> donation with your equipment.  This enables us to put computers in  
> parks, schools, community centers, developing countries, and the  
> hands of children needing them the most.
>
> If you have questions, please contact us at donations at hosef.org
>
> The current suggested schedule for donations is:
>
> PCs and laptops P4 and faster	Free
> PCs and laptops PII and faster	$10
> G3 iMacs/books and faster	$10
> 17' monitors and larger		$10
> Additional Keyboards		$1
> Additional Mice			$1
> Scanners			$5
> Inkjet Printers			$10
> Laser Printers < 25 lbs		$20
> Laser Printers > 25 lbs		$40
> Servers, Sun equipment		contact us
> Non-functional equipment	$.75/lb.
>
> If you are requesting a pickup, please give us your address, times  
> of availability, and, if you intend to leave the equipment for us,  
> the form of payment.  Dropoffs are available if arrangements are  
> made in advance.
>
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