It rarely surprises me anymore to discover something I've lovingly turned to everyday is actually bad for me and/or the world. My first encounter with this was when I learned how many calories and fat grams my morning latte had. That's not the wake-up call I had ever wanted.

So fine, regular ol' coffee and non-fat milk it would be, until I discovered the coffee wasn't fair trade. I switched over to a fair trade vendor, but then realized the paper cup into which my morning Joe was poured was the least green choice I could make. Even if the cup is made from recycled materials, it still takes up valuable real estate in already clogged landfills.

Anyway, the list goes on and on as you can imagine, and at risk of beginning to sound like Jerry Seinfeld, let me get to my point.

Recently, I learned that both my computer and cell phone contain a metal powder called Columbite-tantalite, an ore mined in Australia and Brazil (among other places) and better known as coltan. It's also zealously mined in the Republic of the Congo, where the high demand for this high-tech essential had led to the decimation of the eastern lowland gorilla population and one of the world's greatest wildlife parks, the Kahuzi-Biega National Park.

I was stunned. I had no idea that my phone (which I've replaced quite a few times over the past few years) could possibly have something to do with the slaughter of hundreds of gorillas and the demise of the African rain forest.

Outcry over this issue reached a fever pitch in 2001 when the demand for this precious material had peaked due to the unprecedented growth in the high-tech industry, which led to fears among manufacturers of a diminished coltan supply. That meant manufacturers were doubling and tripling orders of the new black gold, scared to pieces that world's coltan supply could run out. And to some extent, their instincts were spot on, with a worldwide shortage of coltan upon us.

Not surprisingly, with demand being so high, it's driven up the price for the mineral exponentially. Once priced at $30 a pound, coltan can now command a price tag of roughly $200 a pound.

Reminiscent of the 1849 Gold Rush, miners have descended upon the Congo mines hoping to reap the new fortunes this integral ore promises to pay.

Besides tearing into the region's natural habitat, the miners began shooting the elephants and the gorillas for meat. A researcher from the Wildlife Conservation Society took a closer look at the destruction in the region and found the elephant population had been essentially knocked down to zero. Meanwhile, the estimated population of the lowland gorillas dropped by 50 percent.

It gets even uglier. Many folks believe the coltan industry has been used to fuel a bloody civil war between insurgents in the Congo, as well as an ongoing feud with looting rebels in nearby Rwanda, Uganda and Burundia.

The United Nations has been involved and issued a report on the deplorable conditions surrounding the coltan industry a few years ago pressing for change, suggesting guidelines to high-tech companies, and attempted negotiations between those warring factions hoping to gain control of these lucrative mines.

Luckily, as more light is shed on this darkest of dark topics, public outrage has led to, at the very least, attention to the subject. Still, the bulk of the power for change rests in the hands of those companies reliant on coltan for their existence.

Still, those companies say it's too difficult, here in the 21st century to really know if the coltan used in its products is properly and ethically mined, digging not much deeper than simply asking suppliers whether the metal powder being purchased on the black market. Isn't it a pity.