Although "blood diamonds" have been well known for a while, "blood electronics" is a term that many of us are just hearing about. After reading Ashley Judd's piece on CNN about how some of the minerals used in the electronics we use every day, I did a little research into the issue, the new provision in the financial reform law requiring electronics companies to disclose the origins of the minerals, and what we as consumers can do on our end.
Most of the four minerals in question, tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold, are supplied from mines in The Congo. Criminal rebel gangs finance their civil war through illegal mining activities, and the unthinkable mass rapes of women and children in that country are a direct result of this illegal mining. Legitimate miners are being threatened physically and/or killed and they are losing jobs and money to the illegal miners.
A new law will require electronics companies to provide information about where their supplies of conflict minerals come from. But, determining whether the materials come from legitimate or illegitimate mines is not an easy task. Methods of better tracing the supplies are being formulated, along with the final provisions of the law, which should be finalized by April of next year.
Unless we cloister ourselves, there isn't a question that we need our cellphones and other electronics. No one wants to support thieves, rapists, and murderers. So, what can we do as consumers? One thing we can do is hold onto the phones we currently have as long as possible.
An even better thing we can do is to let the major electronics manufacturers know that the situation is one we don't want to be part of, and that it is up to them to make the difference.
Raise Hope for The Congo, an organization involved with education on this issue, has a simple sign-on form that allows you to send a message to these companies, saying that if they vow to use only conflict free minerals in their products, you will buy it.
Unfortunately that's pretty much all we consumers can do right now. The decision is in the manufacturers and suppliers hands. Keeping the pressure on the issue - on the manufacturers and suppliers and on the government - to form a better way to identify the origin of these minerals. This is what consumers need to do to help put a dent in our inadvertent impact on women and children in The Congo.
So, take a quick minute to make your voice heard - it's the only thing we can do, as enslaved consumers, and it's easy so why not? Just do it.
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