Provide a 5 pages analysis while answering the following question: Green Electronics: Hype or Hope. Prepare this assignment according to the guidelines found in the APA Style Guide. An abstract is required. Most of the discarded gadgets end up in landfills and mind you, they are impossible to decompose. Most contain metals and high amounts of lead which are harmful to the environment. Thus, the demand for green electronics came to be.

Undeniably, “going green” is the latest trend these days. It pushes consumers to change their buying practices and lifestyle to become environmentally conscious and responsible for the well-being of our planet. With all the strengthened campaigns against global warming, all industries, including the electronics sector, seem to be keen on going with the hype. But is it really just hype? This paper will argue that “going green”, especially in the electronics sector, is not mere propaganda, but a real hope to create sustainable living in the modern world.

It is known that consumer electronics are far from friendly to the environment — they consume lots of energy thereby contributing to global warming. Aside from that, electronic goods also leach out toxins when they are discarded in landfills. However, technology is getting better by the minute, and there is always pressure for companies to switch to newer, more innovative gadgets. Thus, the demand to “go green” helped shape a technological area known as green electronics.

According to Casey Harrell, a Greenpeace International toxics campaigner, green electronics is specifically defined as the production of consumer electronic products that are “free from toxic chemicals and excels in energy efficiency and durability” (Beaumont, 2009). In recent years, there has been a high demand for electronic manufacturers to produce environmentally friendly products to minimize the adverse effects of global warming and climate change. This large consumer demand for green electronics can be seen everywhere.

Various consumer products are now labelled as “eco-friendly”, “organic”, “green”, “renewable”, “sustainable”, “recyclable” and other similar terms that carry the idea that the product is ideal for the environment. As such, environmental skeptics are concerned that the movement to “go green” is merely a hoax and is used as a marketing ploy to lure consumers on this environmental “hype”.