author = {Bald{\'e}, Cornelis P. and Kuehr, Ruediger and Yamamoto, Tales and McDonald, Rosie and D'Angelo, Elena and Althaf, Shahana and Bel, Garam and {Fernandez-Cubillo}, Elena and Forti, Vanessa and Gray, Vanessa and Herat, Sunil and Honda, Shunichi and Iattoni, Giulia and Khetriwal, Deepali S. and di Cortemiglia, Vittoria Luda and Lobuntsova, Yuliya and Nnorom, Innocent and Wagner (2024), Michelle and Bald{\'e}, Cornelis P. and {International Telecommunication Union (ITU)} and {United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)}},
institution = {International Telecommunication Union (ITU)},
annotation = {titleTranslation: THE GLOBAL E-WASTE MONITOR 2024},
<cite>(Solderpunk, 2020, Cited in de Valk, 2022)</cite>
You’re reading[^shortcut-print] *A Field Guide for Salvaging Sound Devices*. In here, we’ll explore the practical side of salvage computing: is it possible to *live off* (create with) electronic components salvaged in the wild? And what would such a practice look like?
You’re reading[^shortcut-print] *A Field Guide for Salvaging Sound Devices*. Here we'll explore the practical side of salvage computing: is it possible to *live off* (create with) electronic components salvaged in the wild? And what would such a practice entail? Instead of using hardware to build even more computers, we are focussing on creating dreamy drones sound boxes.
Salvaging is the practice of using computational resources that already exist. Not freshly purchased hardware, but salvaged from landfills and hidden in storage boxes. According to the E-Waste Monitor, our e-waste production is growing rapidly, and even doubling between 2010 and 2022. However, the rate at which the waste is collected and recycled is not growing at the same rate, resulting in landfills that just keep growing and growing.[@baldeGlobalEWasteMonitor]
According to Jennifer Gabrys, salvage is not just about reusing materials, but also about confronting the systems that created the waste in the first place [@gabrysSalvage2012]. Waste is not created trough consumer discards, but a by product of all the steps from mining the minerals needed in hardware to disposal. These actions material transisitions take place in hazardous waste sites that cause major long-term environmental and health problems [@calmaWomenWhoMade2025], often in developing countries where technology consumption is much lower.
The growing gap between recycling and production is explained by our increased consumption of technology, limited repair options and lack of e-waste infrastructure.
[^shortcut-print]: <kbd>Ctrl</kbd> + <kbd>P</kbd> to print this document
Buying new parts and components is usually cheaper than repairing or salvaging existing. In my experience, the DIY synth community has fully embraced this notion; when publishing about a project it’s common practice to share a pre-filled webshop cart along with the schematics. This not only causes us as students to buy new parts out of convenience, but by only publishing the *solution*, and not discussing the design process and it’s challenges, we are not developing the much needed problem solving skills [@CooperativeExperimentalismSharing]. And what if that one ultra important part is no longer produced? Or you’d rather make use of all these other electronic parts that already exist?
This notion of buying new is visible in the DIY Synth community as well [^GAS]. When publishing about a project it’s common practice to share a pre-filled webshop cart along with the schematics, or even sold as a KIT[^KIT]. To me, this goes against a core ethos of DIY, where you make do a limited budget resources [@hertzArtDIYElectronics2023]. Instead, a whole new market is created of buying pre-made lego-like kits, that do not talk about the creative process of building and brush over the difficulty of electronics, causing us not to develo-p the much needed problem solving skills [@CooperativeExperimentalismSharing].
[^KIT]: Example of a kit
This is where my interpretation of salvaging could come into play.
”Salvage computing believes that the end of a computer product’s lifecycle should be seen as a moment of celebration”[@lulinvegaHolisticApproachComputing]. Instead of noting down a time of death, the obsolete device could be the start of something new. Trough this thesis & project, I want to challenge my own idea that buying new hardware is quicker then salvaging for hardware. This thesis will be a field guide for the salvaging from- and reusing of abandoned/obsolete media, to create sound devices.
Salvaging is the practice of making use of computational resources that already exists, however, not in hardware stores or pre-filled webshop carts, but on landfills and hidden away in storage boxes. According to Jennifer Gabrys, salvaging is not just about re-using materials, but also about confronting the systems that created the waste in the first place. [@gabrysSalvage2012].
<ins>Feedback: Leg dit uit voor de lezer, hoe verhoud jouw verhaal zich tot de 'systems that created the waste in the first place'? Dit kan terugkomen in je laatste hoofdstuk (reflectie)</ins>
The guide is split up into four chapters describing the different stages of salvaging for sound devices:
1. Gathering hardware
1. Gathering hardware
*We’ll go through which devices work best for salvaging, where can they be found, dealing with hording, hidden waste streams*
2. Dismantling devices
*Tools & tricks for dismantling devices and breaking it down into smaller parts, dealing with strategies companies employ to keep you out of their devices*
3. Components to salvage
*An overview of parts, where they are, how to reuse them, and the difficulties that come along with it*
4. Recipes for making
*Strategies for re-making with salvaged parts*
5. *extra* Buy in bulk > wat te doen met je nieuwe zooi? => reflectie
<ins>Feedback: aangeven per hoofdstuk waar het over gaat</ins>
*Cleaning up afterward, a look back into if this was actually a good idea.*
## Do It With Others (DIWO)
Within the DIY Sound community, DIWO workshops are a common way of sharing knowledge [@richardsDIYElectronicMusic2013]. This guide itself is created during and around so-called *(un)repair nights[^unrepair-night]* at the klankschool[^about-klankschool]. I would really encourage you to do DIWO this guide too. The frustrating process that can be learning electronics is much better to manage when shared.
Within the DIY Sound community, DIWO workshops are a common way of sharing knowledge [@richardsDIYElectronicMusic2013], similarly to repair, which is a historically social activity, where skills are passed by the generations. Fixing your bike is a very dad type thing. By joining & hosting workshops and gatherings around repair and repurposing, I’ve noticed how empowering it can be to take back this autonomy. This guide itself is created during and around so-called *(un)repair nights[^unrepair-night]* at the klankschool[^about-klankschool]. I would really encourage you to do DIWO this guide too. The frustrating process that can be learning electronics is much better to manage when shared.
[^unrepair-night]: Join every other thursday at klankschool, check the [calendar](https://calendar.klank.school/) for more information
@ -39,20 +54,15 @@ Within the DIY Sound community, DIWO workshops are a common way of sharing knowl
On that note, I am by no means and expert in electronics. When I write about how things work, please take it with a grain of salt. It's 'my' logic, and i'm sure it's full of incorrect assumptions. If you have improvements, feel free to reach out, or create a pull request with your improvements.
# To fix
<ins>positiviere angle repair van [@jacksonRethinkingRepair2014]</ins>
## Oud
<ins>Feedback: er staat nu nog niets over how to print</ins>
<ins>Feedback: meer context creeeren want de why mist. Ik heb de tekst van de proposal er in geplakt voor inspiratie</ins>
Repair is, door de geschiedenis heen, een sociale gebeurtenis, waarbij kennis uitgewisseld wordt. Zo beschrijft Parks open-air repair shops in Macha, Zambia [@parksMediaFixesThoughts2013]. Ik zou hier eigenlijk nog een lokaler voorbeeld willen noemen. Ik denk dat er in die repair manual tekst nog wel wat voorbeelden staan.
## To add
If your biometric eye no longer functions because the company that produces them went bankrupt[1], it means that you didn’t actually own the eyes in the first place. This is an example of why repair, both the right to and the skill of, is important. Through repair & DIY, we can take back control of these things. Unfortunately, buying new is usually the more cheap, accessible and easy option. Outsourcing maintenance to a monthly Swapfiets[2] subscription is easier then learning how to repair & maintain yourself. Buying a new lamp is quicker then discovering what actually blew the fuse in the first place. And buying new hardware is the easier, cheaper and more reliable option then salvaging existing components from e-waste.
DIWO workshop.jpg
But, by joining & hosting workshops and gatherings around repair and repurposing, I’ve noticed how empowering it can be to take back this autonomy: To fix your own bike, to discover what a fuse is or to make (or break) a circuit together. A shared attempt to uncover some of the black boxes in our own products. As Garnet Hertz and Jussi Parikka state, probably to discover even more black boxes, that have become completely obsolete. [@parikkaOperativeMediaArchaeology2011].
”Salvage computing believes that the end of a computer product’s lifecycle should be seen as a moment of celebration”[4]. Instead of noting down a time of death, the obsolete device could be the start of something new. Trough this thesis & project, I want to challenge my own idea that buying new hardware is quicker then salvaging for hardware. This thesis will be a field guide for the salvaging from- and reusing of abandoned/obsolete media, to create sound devices.
<ins>Opruimen die handel!</ins>
Dit kan weg? A big reason for this increasing amount of waste is, surprise, the amount of technology being created. My *innovative* electric tooth has Bluetooth. And with issues like lack of repairability, topped off with a whiff of technological obsolescence (more on that later), but it causes us to want shiny new instead of used and old, you get a hazardous e-waste cocktail that's hard to swallow.
@ -48,3 +48,4 @@ This process really is about finding small gaps in the enclosures[^black-boxism]
<ins>Dit verhaal gaan ondersteunen met illustraties/foto's </ins>
<ins>Praten over hoe eventueel the manual een onderdeel van heb object zou kunnen zijn, pagina 14 op [@ matternStepStepThinking2024] en pagina 2 van [@parksCrackingOpenSet2000]
description: This is the description of the about us page
---
<spantemplate-type="intro"></span>
Dear reader,
This web page includes the WIP version of my thesis. For (limited) information about Klankschool's repair cafe, go to [https://unrepair.klank.school](https://unrepair.klank.school)[^server-down]. The text you'll find below is a draft of the thesis. This thesis will be a field guide to salvaging electronics to make sound devices. This field guide is compact and is meant to be taken "into the wild".
This web page includes the WIP version of my thesis. For (limited) information about Klankschool's repair café, go to [https://unrepair.klank.school](https://unrepair.klank.school). The text you'll find below is a draft of the thesis. This thesis will be a field guide to salvaging electronics to make sound devices. This field guide is compact and is meant to be taken *"into the wild."* You can download the guide as a PDF via [this link](/assets/a-field-guide-to-salvaging-sound-devices.pdf), or CTRL + P your own. <ins>insert a PDF</ins>
At the I'm leaving notes for myself of things i'd like to include later. These notes can be recognized by their tags
[^server-down]: At the moment, the klank server is down. As far as I understand, there is an issue with the amount of electricity the server is hoarding.
I'm leaving notes of things I'd like to include later. These notes can be recognized by their <ins>tags</ins>.
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