We're all a little guilty of this. Technology marches on all the time; especially in the fields of home computing and mobile phones. In our desire to own the latest and most powerful model, we're eager to discard our existing kit as soon as something better comes along. Someone else may take on what you dispose of, but eventually technology becomes obsolete; usually within a small number of years from its launch. Much of that technology can't be recycled, and so it's just dumped. That's what we see here.
In among that mass are microwaves, refrigerators, old home computers, monitors, keyboards and consoles. Things which once sat at the heart of your family home are now broken wrecks on enormous piles. Although we as consumers are partially to blame for this, so are the companies that make them; the constant push to release as many products as possible, in as short a time as possible, generates vast amounts of waste and refuse. Perhaps if they were made responsible for cleaning it all up, they wouldn't be so eager?
To insure one’s house, one’s car or to underwrite a life insurance policy, that is common practice. But who would pay an insurance premium for his/her thumb, legs or smile? Stars, of course.
At the top of the ranking are the legs of Mariah Carey, worth 810 million USD: The diva became, in 2006, the Gillette brand muse for the advertising campaign «Legs of a Goddess». She then took out an insurance policy with London Lloyds to protect her legs, a decision that is far from being insignificant. Among its customers, the London insurer then included several icons of music, such as Bob Dylan or Rod Stewart.
David Beckham’s body insured for 195 million USD: European champion with Manchester United in 1999, David Beckham was in 2006 the most renowned footballer of the planet. In relation to his sporting activities, he took out an insurance cover for his legs. The huge amount paid for his insurance would reportedly exceed the 103 million USD disbursed by Real Madrid for the cover of Christiano Ronaldo in 2009. The fashion model would later extend his insurance cover to his entire body.
15 million USD in insurance for Kim Kardashian’s curves: The curves of Kim Kardashian are her number one beauty asset. The reality TV star, who is crazy about plastic surgery, has underwritten an insurance policy worth 15 million USD to protect her famous butt.
The culinary critic Egon Ronay assured his taste buds: The famous Hungarian culinary critic has insured his taste buds since 1957, for the amount of 400 000 USD. An original insurance policy which allows him to cover his sense of taste without which he will no longer be able to practice his job.