December 21, 2007
TV Debris
Before you rush out to buy the family a high definition 50" TV for Christmas
Consider the following:
A 42-inch plasma TV can consume more electricity than a full-size refrigerator even if you use it only a few hours a day.
According to the BBC you'll increase your carbon footprint
In terms of carbon emissions, the EST says old-style TVs produce 100kg of climate-warming CO2 per year - while larger, plasma screens (there are no small plasma TVs) will pump out 400kg.....And disposing of the unwanted CRT televisions is going to be a challenge in itself - with an anticipated 70 million old-style sets to be dumped by the end of the decade.
Engadget predicts that energy costs from TV's will increase by 50% in the next four years, while we're hardly noticing.
Then there's the question of compromising brain development in children with a room- sized, more intrusive, high definition screen.
In 1999, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended no screen time at all for babies under 2, out of concern that the increasing use of media might displace human interaction and impede the crucially important brain growth and development of a baby's first two years. But it is a recommendation that parents routinely ignore. According to Kaiser, babies 6 months to 3 years old spend, on average, an hour a day watching TV and 47 minutes a day on other screen media, like videos, computers and video games."These new media toys are growing and becoming quite prevalent," said Claire Lerner, a child-development expert at Zero to Three, a nonprofit advocacy group that includes information about brain development on its Web site. "This generation of parents grew up thinking technology was all positive, so if they see their child looking happy, engaged with what's on the screen, it's very seductive. But a group of toddlers making up a story together is a much richer learning experience than dragging things across a screen to make a story. Children learn best in the context of relationships."
Oh darn -- you already bought it? Well just send it back.
Photo note: The dump, with droll three dimensional commentary by the DPW
Posted by Dakota at December 21, 2007 06:36 AM