Electronics

Air conditioners, refrigerators, dishwashers, washing machines and other appliances are a major source of energy consumption. In fact, washers and dryers account for about 10 percent of your household energy bills, and washers are responsible for more than 20 percent of household water consumption. In total, kitchen appliances account for approximately 25 percent of home energy use. Can energy-efficient appliances really make a difference?

It's nice to vegetate in front of the tube, but how much is too much? How big of a screen do you need? What do we do with our junker TVs and stereo equipment? Where is the audio or video equipment being made, and at what environmental expense? These are just some of the questions to consider when you next shop for a TV, DVD player, stereo, or camera.

We have all experienced the inconvenience of a dropped or missed call or lost voice mail. Yet, cell phones present much more troubling questions to the ethical shopper. There are usually hidden costs of joining or canceling a plan. Scam offers, overcharges, and useless automated customer service systems are standard features of the cell phone industry. And we frequently change phones, creating a growing mountain of discarded toxic phone equipment.

Studies estimate that 300 to 600 million desktop and laptop computers in the U.S. will soon be obsolete. Discarded computers and other consumer electronics are the fastest growing portion of our waste stream. Which companies are trying to make a difference? Are the largest companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Gateway, and IBM taking responsibility for their actions? What about search engines and software, and questions of censorship and the digital divide?