Sometimes, however, I reflect on the e-waste modern technology like cell phones has totally replaced. Almost no one has a land line. There was a time when almost everyone had a camera (or two). Radios and boom boxes. Tape recorders. Calculators. Stereo systems. Tapes, CDs, DVDs, LPs and their packaging..

You mentioned notebooks, but the average notebook uses much, much less material than a desktop of old.

Our parents had console TVs and stereo systems. massive piece of furniture that had to be discarded when they were replaced.

And so on. Our situation may not be perfect, but we are in fact doing better.