Electronic-waste crisis: Pollutants put environment and public health at risk
https://nation.africa/kenya/climate/pollutants-ewaste-environment-public-health-at-risk-5421588
E-waste is fasting growing waste in the world and hugely toxic. Like plastic, much of Global North e-waste is dumped in Global South.
Waste colonialism
@gerrymcgovern Just don't buy new stuff.
Forget about all the repurposing and handing-it-on bullshit. _You_ are still complicit in trashing the "planet".
Certainly and under no circumstances buy replacement cos the older is just ... not the must-have any more.
My fav lifestyle line was "Got a new car coming tomo, the ashtray on this one is full".
Repair if it's easy - broken plastic or cable etc. Go out of your way and pay to get skilled repairs on tricky stuff.
I try to live this way, but especially the last part - finding skilled persons for tricky stuff - get`s harder year over year. I upskilled myself for many things, but there are some things I do not want to touch.
Actual example: I have a solar-heated garden shower. Through winter it developed a thin crack (yes, my fault) and is leaking. This needs welding. I do not weld, and I do not want to. But no professional comes for such a small task...
@RomanVilgut
The skills to repair things, as you say, are key, and we are losing them.
At some point in the not so distant future, when this whole capitalist edifice collapses, we will desperately need those skills again. Maintaining key skills across generations is going to be vital.
@gmoretti @wavesculptor @gerrymcgovern
The material of those solar showers is usually alloy or steel - paited black to heat faster. So I fear soldering is not enough. I also cannot reach into it from inside, otherwise I would have tried to seal it from the inside.
Right now all I can do is ask friends, if they know someone who knows someone etc... because welding is a skill, I am not confortable learning from DIY-videos...
@RomanVilgut @gmoretti @gerrymcgovern
stuff such as you describe is the fabric of my daily life.
Often it's fix A in order to fix B in order to ... C...Z.
Your example: plate it with similar material - use magnet / surface scrape to determine material; thoroughly abrade and clean and clamp with self-tappers and silicone. The silicone seals but has no strength, needs compression and strength of the hardware which will not seal on its own.
Done well, expect 2-5 years before something else fails.
@wavesculptor @gmoretti @gerrymcgovern
I yet have to determin if it`s steel or alloy - but since the crack is in a corner, I do not think, that plating can be a solution. Since the crack is in a deepening, I did think of filling it with epoxy, but I am not sure, if this will hold...
looks like it might be hot-dipped zink -- "galvalnized" -- steel.
find a piece of thin plated steel sheet from any household tat - even a food can, bend with grips to cover flange with a U-shape.
Dry-screw with self-tappers, assume you're familiar with hole sizes, Get it neat, dismantle, degrease, silicone, screw. Allow day for cure bef test.
on closer look at photo -- the plate's going to be more stretched "P" shape
Reg
Gerry McGovern
SolaršGarden
Roman Vilgut
Giovanni - ZL2GX
Drey