Your old computers have to go somewhere.

In all likelihood, they end up in Guiyu, China. This obscure Chinese rice village is now the e-waste capitol of the world - a place where bona fide mountains of keyboards and circuit boards tower over its inhabitants. The water here is undrinkable - it has been for years.

Most of Guiyu makes their living by tearing apart outdated Dells with their bare hands. To access the solder, for example, they roast circuit boards over coal-fired grills. Printer cartridges are attacked with paint brushes, sending black clouds into the air and lungs. Gold is obtained using acid strippers, whose sludge is later dumped into the local river.

Computers components, however old, are rife with bits of valuable metals - many savvy geeks strip their old technology of gold before leaving them on the curb. But they also contain enough other materials - lead, cadmium, barium, even mercury - that electronic waste qualifies as hazardous, which is why most western countries drop it off as waste disposal centers. From there, 80% of e-waste heads straight to Asia.

Some workers claim they can distinguish between dozens of plastics, based on how they smell when they burn. Workers here make as little as $100 a month.