How your smartphone affects the environment
Mobile phones are not necessarily that bad for the environment. In fact, smartphones are among the most energy-efficient gadgets. Charging a phone uses around two to six watts of energy, costing you an estimate of less than a dollar per year.
However, these devices have two big sustainability problems: (1) the sheer amount of resources and energy it takes to produce a new phone, and (2) how much waste is produced by the now-common upgrade cycle.
Resources used. Building a brand new mobile phone uses a lot of resources and produces a lot of carbon dioxide emissions. Did you know that buying just one new phone uses as much energy as recharging and operating a smartphone for ten years?
It is estimated that producing a new smartphone accounts for 85 percent to 95 percent of its carbon dioxide emissions over its average two year lifecycle.
Smartphones are made up of around 30 elements, which include copper, gold and silver for wiring, and lithium and cobalt in the battery. The bright colors of your phone display are produced by small amounts of rare earth elements, including yttrium, terbium and dysprosium.
Mining of rare materials has caused a vast emission of carbon dioxide. And the amount of emissions produced is rising with each new model. An example of this is the iPhone 6s which produces 57 percent more carbon dioxide than the iPhone 4s, while the iPhone 11 produced 6.6 percent more carbon dioxide than the iPhone XR.
Waste produced. If you are not still not aware, the amount of e-waste people produce each year is growing at an increasing rate. In 2019, society produced over 50m tonnes of e-waste, and this is expected to double by 2050.
E-waste contains extremely toxic chemicals, including lead, cadmium, dioxins, furans, arsenic, mercury, DDT, PCB, chromium, vinyl chloride, antimony, among others. Some of those toxic chemicals can be found in your smartphone. These can cause birth defects; damage to central and peripheral nervous systems; distorted blood composition; damaged lungs, livers, and kidneys; and death.
The chemicals found on your smartphones pollute soil, water and air. It is estimated that electronics, with your phones as a major contributor, account for 70 percent of toxic landfill.
Why buying refurbished phones can save the environment?
Refurbished phones, also called reconditioned phones or pre-owned phones, are mobile devices that have been renewed, repaired or renovated. These are devices that were previously purchased and then returned to the manufacturer, wireless carrier, or retailer.
More often than not, there was nothing wrong with these phones even before they were repaired or renovated. These devices may have been returned because the customers simply decided they don't like them. There are other cases that the pre-owned phones had some kind of hardware problem or manufacturing defect. In which cases, these mobile phones were fixed and sold again as a refurbished item.
People tend to buy used phone or refurbished phones as not only do they look and function like new smartphones, they also can be purchased at a hefty price. They are an excellent way to get your hands on a top-quality device without leaving a hole in your wallet.
However, refurbished phones are more than just that. They can also be your way of helping to save the environment.
Less phones ending up in landfill. Billions of dollars worth of precious metals and rare earth elements go to the landfills each year because of electronics, particularly smartphones, being disposed of. When you buy a refurbished phone, you will be supporting a system that provides environmentally friendly iPhones. You will be purchasing a phone that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill.
Every time you buy refurbished phones, you are supporting an industry that stops healthy goods from ending up in a space where they won't decompose and negatively affect the environment.
Reduces carbon emissions and demands for precious resources. Studies suggest that keeping a mobile phone in use for an extra year cuts its lifetime carbon dioxide impact by a third. Going for refurbished phones will reduce the demand for precious resources and cut the emissions associated with buying a new phone.
Less e-waste. According to the United Nations, global e-waste volumes grew by 21 percent between 2014 and 2019. The world discarded 53.6 million tons of e-waste in 2019 and only 17.4 percent of e-waste discarded was recycled.
Refurbished items get pumped back into the system, helping to reduce waste. As such, rather than throwing away your old phone and having it go to the landfill or leaving it sitting in a drawer, you can trade in your old phone and buy a refurbished device.
Giving mobile phones longer lives. There are manufacturers and companies that specialize in refurbishing technology which help to extend the life of devices. If you have an old phone, you choose to sell it to these manufacturers or companies. They will restore your old phone to excellent condition and then someone else will buy it.
Less environmental damage. The real environmental impact of mobile phones happens before and after you own the device. As previously mentioned, the process of manufacturing a smartphone requires a lot of resources. These resources are dug up and assembled.
When you buy a refurbished phone, you are extending the life of the device. Yes, you cannot completely undo the damage caused when it was first made, however, you are reducing that damage every month that you own the device.
Reduces energy consumption. It is difficult to comprehend the harmful pollutant and energy released due to the massive volume of devices manufactured due to high demand. The manufacturing process of new mobile phones has a long-lasting impact on the consumption of limited resources.
Buying a refurbished phone can significantly reduce energy consumption that would otherwise go into manufacturing a new smartphone.
Supports the circular economy. You can still get a good deal on a device by buying a refurbished phone. Most smartphone manufacturers are now offering free software updates. This gives you access to the latest technology for a small part of the cost of purchasing a new one.
There are retailers that provide you a way to both buy your new mobile phone as well as a way to get rid of your old phone in a safe, environmentally friendly way.
Did you know that the concept of a circular economy is becoming popular? And it is for a good reason. The concept of circular economy ensures that you extend a product's lifespan, and not just for a few years while they are still trendy.
When smartphones are refurbished and placed back into circulation, this extends the lifespan of the device and reduces the overall environmental impact on the planet
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