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Writer's pictureJen

Earth Day & Tech: The Silence is Deafening

Updated: Apr 24, 2022


Many moons ago I remember stumbling across an article about how the solar industry is not sustainable. Just like with many tech devices, the manufacturing of solar panels is destructive to the environment. That fact is not as readily available to consumers as the fact that they produce clean energy. As of now, apparently it's the best mainstream solution to fossil fuels. If you think from the point of view of the environment, no destruction will have to be the future goal. Destruction can only go so far, but it will be stopped one way or the other. The current trend to get more people to go solar with tax breaks and such is simply a short sighted. profit generating solution.


Many years later after reading the article about the solar industry, I learned from the Building Biology Institute (BBI) how solar panel equipment can give off electric and magnetic fields and many of them are now 'smart' - giving off radio-frequency microwave radiation as well. This adds to their already destructive side. You can download the BBI's Photovoltaic Solar Panels Fact Sheet here. Although I don't have the solution to replace fossil fuels or solar (short of becoming a Hobbit) someone out there has to be working on this!


Earth Day was on Friday. I love the Earth as much as anyone else and I think Earth Day is a great step in the right direction. However, I always get this sinking feeling in my stomach as I read "green" websites or even the official Earth Day website. There are so many smart people out there, where is all the information about how our devices like our cell phones, routers, computers, etc. are destructive to the environment? Why isn't this topic important on Earth Day? I'm not only talking from the point of view of unseen and unfelt electro-magnetic frequencies (EMF), but also the visible, physical components and the manufacturing of phones which is much more tangible to understand.


Luckily I stumbled across this article, The Hidden Environmental Toll of Smartphones. Found on BBVA's website, I couldn't have asked for a better article to help bridge the cognitive dissonance between mainstream Earth Day movements and reality. Technology itself is not sustainable. I'll simply summarize the article's shocking information briefly, but I encourage you to read the entire article:

  • "A phone’s birth is the most contaminating part of its life cycle: around 80% of each device’s carbon footprint is generated at the manufacturing stage."

  • "Nearly all phones require 16 of the 17 rare-earth metals."

  • "Smartphones generate more greenhouse gases than any other consumer electronic devices."

  • "Gold mining for the tech industry is one of the main causes of deforestation in the Amazon."

  • "Given the extraordinary social and environmental cost of creating new smartphones, it would make sense to extend their lifespan for as long as possible — and yet, most phones aren’t durable or repairable."

That is a lot to stomach; and the cell phone is only one of the many devices in our homes. It's obvious that using devices and appliances as long as possible is the best way to be as eco-friendly as possible in our modern day. According to the article, the average person gets a new phone every two years.


It's also great to look for ways to avoid buying new devices and appliances in the first place. For example: Do you really need Alexa? Do you really need an electric can opener? Do you really need an electric lemon juicer? Do you really need a microwave? Maybe you do need some of these, and maybe you don't. No guilt. But just sifting through some of the ways we've been marketed to for devices and appliances that we really don't need is a good start.


Finally, I want to briefly address another Earth Day glaring omission; that of man-made electro-magnetic frequencies (EMF). This topic seems even further from the radar. Any foreign frequency to the Earth is not sustainable and not eco-friendly. The Earth gives off amazing energy that I've said over and over promotes our collective well-being and that of all of Earth's inhabitants. It's shocking to learn that:

  • The Earth's gentle electro-magnetic energy has been interrupted since the beginning of electricity. Electricity's nature is chaotic while Earth energy is harmonious to the body.

  • Power lines, in the air and in the ground, can disrupt the natural energetic flow of ley lines and grid lines (which I just accidentally misspelled as 'grin lines' because they can make you smile!). These ley lines and grid lines are important to the Earth's health.

  • Since we are knowingly or unknowingly connected to these gentle Earth energy flows, it makes sense that disruption in their integrity may affect our body's integrity and the integrity of plants, animals, insects, etc.

  • Radio waves and later cell tower frequencies took this to a whole other level of disruption.

While tech companies are promoting how progressive they are and we are jumping on board, the reality is that there is nothing progressive about unsustainable technology manufacturing practices such as mining that pollute the environment. Added to that is the fact that wireless technologies can be harmful to the body and environment, making them all the less progressive. From the point of view of health, a landline phone, a digital pedometer and an analog utility meter are far more progressive.


It's time to stop ignoring the topic of technology's destruction of the environment, not only on Earth Day, but every day. Solutions inside the tech box, like this one from Microsoft, called the Planetary Computer are not solutions at all. This is distraction as Microsoft's aim is always profit - something that obviously can get in the way of what's really good for the environment. How can those who have helped destroy the environment be the ones with solutions? Wise ones don't destroy the environment in the first place.


One solution is to start communicating with nature for solutions like pioneer Michaelle Small Wright from Perelandra. Michaelle uses kinesiology to balance herself and her environment with the help of the nature spirits. Humans think they have the answers. They really don't. Now that is forward thinking (yet really it's actually ancient thinking). After all, the domain of the nature spirits is the Earth which means they are experts. Nature spirits would have never destroyed their environment like humans have in the first place. The leaders who will bring us out of our collective coma will be those who are bridging the gap between humans and nature itself.


Help the Earth shine on!







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