A MacBook: From Cradle to Cradle
What is it made of? How does it degrade? How can we reuse?
What is it Made of?
A MacBook is composed of many smaller components. To truly understand what it is made of, we need to break it down into its parts and then assay each of those components individually.
Processor
Computer processors are made of metal and sand. These are put through various manufacturing processes that create a processor.
Body
The body of a MacBook is made of aluminum that requires a large amount of heat to be molded into the distinctive shape that it will eventually take.
Display
The LED display of a MacBook consists of a large number of liquid crystals, a light, and gorilla glass. The gorilla glass is made of sand that is put through an intense manufacturing process. The liquid crystals are a type of metal that has certain properties. The type of liquid crystal varies by MacBook. The light is made up of glass that is made of sand and filaments that are made of metal.
Hard Drive
The hard drive is made of either glass or aluminium. The glass is usually made of sand. The Hard Drive will also require steel for the reader and a fair bit of plastic for the coating of wires and connectors inside.
RAM
RAM requires basically the exact same materials required by hard drives.
Wireless Cards and Graphic Cards
These will be made of metals for the circuits and antennas inside. For the outer shell, silicon will be used and this is made of sand. Some plastic will also be used for connectors.
Motherboard
This is the circuit that holds everything together. This will be made of silicon, metal and plastic in certain places.
Battery
These batteries, more specifically lithium ion batteries, are made of carbon, metal oxide, and a fair bit of lithium.
Charging Cable
This will be made of plastic and copper.
Packaging
The packaging usually consists of a fair bit of paper and plastics. There will also be metal in the form of staple holding it together.So, what are the overall raw materials and where do they come from?
Paper
Sand
Plastic
Metals
how are they used and how long do people use them and what impact do they have on the environment?
MacBooks are usually used daily for homework, work, or just browsing the internet. They will usually last a long time and are known to last for at least 8 years. The packaging is usually rid of quickly. The packaging is usually disposed of in a trash can; however, it is known that cardboard is recyclable. Most of the parts of the MacBook on the other hand, are not very reusable. All of the inner parts of it are not reusable. The aluminum is reusable though. The plastics and other parts are usually fairly toxic to the environment. They tend to pollute water sources. Especially the battery fluid. The silicon does break down fairly quickly though. The only part of the MacBook that lasts particularly long is the plastic.