[microtonal]

The mining and extraction of lithium and coltan requires massive amounts of water and energy [1][2]. In African countries with very little regulation, land, lakes, and rivers are polluted as a result of mining.

And what do we use it for? To produce some 15+ million million devices that are deprecated after two years.

Yes, that is tragic and a disaster for those countries. It's just that more attention is paid to events that unfold within days rather than years.

[1] http://www.guardian.co.uk/sustainable-business/carbon-footpr... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coltan