Dealing with Health Hazards in the High-Tech Electronics Industry

The Social Network Show welcomes Ted Smith to the June 16, 2014 episode.Ted Smith, who left the legal field and founded Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, Co-Founded and Chairs the Steering Committee of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition and is the Co-Founder and Coordinator of the International Campaign for Responsible Technology (ICRT), shares information about the toxic waste in Silicon Valley that was created by the "high-tech electronics industry" and the current conditions in the other countries who have taken on the manufacturing of technology products. Listen to Ted to hear how the coalition was started and what is happening in the industry now. Hear Ted talk about what Samsung and Apple have done in this regard.Ted Smith is founder and former Executive Director of Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, a grass roots environmental coalition formed in 1982 in response to environmental pollution caused by electronics manufacturing in Silicon Valley, California. Ted is also co-founder and Chair of the steering committee of the Electronics TakeBack Coalition, which is working to promote life-cycle producer responsibility within the high-tech electronics industry. In addition, Ted is co-founder and Coordinator of the International Campaign for Responsible Technology (ICRT), an international network committed to working for the development of sustainable, non-polluting technologies. He has served on the boards of several environmental non-profit organizations and has been an environmental stakeholder in formal processes convened by Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Best Buy and Sprint. Ted was recognized by the Dalai Lama for his environmental leadership. In 2006 he was named a Purpose Prize Fellow. In 2008 he was voted “Environmentalist of the year” by the Santa Clara County League of Conservation Voters. He is a widely published author and respected speaker, and is co-editor of Challenging the Chip: Labor Rights and Environmental Justice in the Global Electronics Industry published by Temple University Press, 2006 He is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Stanford Law School and was a VISTA Volunteer in Washington, DC from 1967 - 1969.