Tag: waste disposal

Can You Stop Technology from Becoming Disposable?

Keeping up with the rate at which technology is evolving is not an easy task.

It is becoming impossible to own the latest phone, laptop or MacBook because a newer version is always just around the corner. Technology is therefore fast approaching the point of becoming disposable. Because of this, people are taking less care of their technology, safe in the knowledge that they can just replace it with a newer model.

Even quick and easy fixes have become too much hassle; something as simple as replacing a worn hard drive and recovering the data on it will be too hard for some people who will swiftly decide to abandon the perfectly serviceable machine in favor of purchasing a new one. This is a costly and wasteful solution.

If you have a quick trigger finger when it comes to abandoning your tech, follow these 3 steps to hopefully stop you from throwing out another laptop this year:

  • Protect the Outside

We take our tech everywhere with us: when we’re on the go, they are constantly shoved in and out of our pockets or bag. This makes breaking them an unfortunately common occurrence and phone screens are the main culprit. In America alone, more than 50 million phone screens are cracked over the course of a year. Getting yourself a screen protector and a case for your phone is such a simple and obvious tip. Protective cases are easy to come by and can save you from replacing your screen every time your phone fall out of your pocket.

  • Protect the Inside

Malware and viruses are not new, but as technology evolves, so do they. Simple changes in the way you protect your sensitive data can stop your computer from getting hacked and destroyed from within. Change your passwords regularly: having the same password for everything might be a helpful way for you to remember, it but it also puts your security at risk. Be sure to include numbers, upper and lower case letters and make it a minimum of 9-letters long.

  • Make Do and Mend

No longer just a phrase for darning your holey socks, mending your technology is the best way to stop you from having to shell out for something new. Is your laptop two years old and the hard drive has started making unusual noises? Don’t automatically assume the worst. Firstly, hard drives have a longer life than most tech users assume, and secondly, there are services such as Secure Data Recovery Services that can assist you in solving the problem.technology Disposal

Technology doesn’t have to become disposable. In a climate that is currently focused on becoming — and remaining — sustainable, the rate at which you use and dispose of anything, including tech, will become crucial. Is it vital for you to have the latest phone model when yours still performs perfectly well? Have you protected your laptop from anyone snooping on the public Wi-Fi? Simple and basic prevention can go a long way.

Mobile app could be the solution to trash issues

A cloud based application could help scavengers to clear out a great deal of the garbage piling up in Jakarta.

Jakarta may soon be following in the footsteps of Bangalore, India, in the use of a mobile app that would help to empower scavengers who play an important role in reducing the rising garbage problem that is piling up in the city.

The mobile application that is designed for this purpose has been called “I Got Garbage”.

The project manager for “I Got Garbage”, from Mindtree IT services company, Prashant Mehra, has designed the mobile app to make it possible for scavengers to offer services of track picking to households that are seeking improved waste disposal options and additional garbage management services. The scavengers simply download the app and register with it so that they can start the process of taking part in the service that will allow households to hire them for their services.

This mobile app is geared primarily toward rag pickers who will receive training from the company.

Mobile App - Waste CollectionMehra explained that “A group of rag-pickers can register their group on our application. We then will provide them with one-day training on the dos and don’ts on doing their jobs, how to keep themselves safe [from dangerous substances in the garbage] and how to act politely with their clients.”

Every scavenger who wants to take part in this program is equipped with a smartphone based on Android and that has the I Got Garbage app installed on it, as well as one of the company’s uniforms.

Residents who choose to use the service can also download this mobile application, which is equipped with geolocation technology, making it possible for the homeowner to connect with a worker who is located nearby. From that point, the app user will “enter into a service contract, which requires each house to pay around US$2 per month for the service.” The rag pickers who are hired by this program can serve as many as 200 houses.

At the moment, the mobile app has 6,500 participating scavengers serving around 100,000 houses in Bangalore. This is quite the accomplishment as it has been only two years since the creation of the program.