Every day, thousands of pounds of pesticides that have been banned in the U.S. are legally shipped to other nations. Technology has redefined many concepts in our lives. It has changed the very way we perceive distance, space and time. We now have ideas like acceptable risk, side effect, birth defect and toxic waste. The information age has forced redefinition of the concepts of community, conversation, debate and what it means to participate.
Technology can illuminate or it can obscure.
There are always those who have and those who don't. New technologies that result in efficient home energy systems exist today. These environmentally friendly systems, however, cost large amounts of money and are reserved for the wealthy. The high-tech plastics and electronic components that make up these systems are often themselves created with toxic chemicals and processes that harm the worker and, ultimately the environment. These questions can also help us as we try to simplify our lives and decide what we really need around us.