The sustainability of our digital environments: the language of the upgrade path and e-waste

Abstract

This article looks at the material consequences of our use of digital technologies that are becoming obsolete at an increasingly rapid pace. I argue that how we write about digital technologies has an effect on the technologies themselves and that scholars who study digital forms have a responsibility to take these material consequences into account.

Keywords:

• ecocriticism
• ecomedia
• new materialism
• toxic discourse

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Caroline Stone Short

Caroline Stone Short graduated with a PhD in English from the University of Florida in 2014. She works as an instructional designer for the educational software company Shadow Health.