In the 21st century, we cannot separate from our cell phones, it is a ubiquitous accessory. But, most of the phones are not earth friendly.
We have seen people buying cheap phones and once they break, they purchase another one. Most of us keep attaching the cellphones to charging plug as we keep on using it. Even if we do not buy mobiles repeatedly or we avoid charging it several times, but if we have a phone, we are damaging the Eco-system.
Why smartphones are not eco-friendly?
The material used to manufacture the smartphones are mainly plastic and tantalum, a rare conflict mineral from Central Africa where its mining involves human exploitation and violence. Then, the energy consumption – the smartphones may not even last a day after a full charge. In addition to charging the devices, it needs the power to transmit the calls, messages, and data. Various network providers add to the signaling traffic while their towers route calls and data to the users. All these power consumption adds to the greenhouse gas emission and we are yet to talk about the plastic that takes many years to dissolve back to the Eco-system, if not recycled.
To be gentle towards Mother Nature, we can take some steps by using to Eco-friendly ethical smartphones, accessories and once they come to an end, find an electronic recycling program/box in your city. It may look a cumbersome or costly at first, but can’t we do small things to save the environment.
We have some environment conscious ethical smartphones with sustainable technology listed here. All the phones are manufactured with recyclable but durable material while making least impact on the environment. These phones consume less power, charges efficiently and emits minimum radiation.
1. Samsung Galaxy Exhilarate ($29.99 with a two-year contract)
The brand releases green mobile phones each year. Galaxy Exhilarate is an Android phone built with 80 percent recycled material and comes with an efficient charger. The Eco-friendly device is very pocket friendly, which makes it accessible to more people. UL Environment gives it a platinum certification and this is the first offering from At&t Eco-rating system.
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Sony Xperia ZR ($150)
After separating from Ericsson, Sony is releasing attractive Eco-friendly ethical smartphones, Xperia series is the best. Whether it’s Xperia Z, ZR or SP, all of them have the lowest hazardous material, up to 99 percent. Xperia ZR is the most stunning and magnificent from the pack.
The 4.55-inch smartphone comes with APQ8064 Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset by Qualcomm and 2 GB RAM. The phone is water/dust resistant and is very lightweight at 138 grams. -
Fairphone 2 ($590)
The leader in ethical smartphones, it is built with completely recycled aluminum and plastic. Inside, it has Qualcomm quad-core processor, 2 GB RAM, 32 GB storage space, 8 MP rear, and 2 MP camera. Its 5 inch IPS screen is protected with Gorilla glass.
The makers have crafted this phone to be easy reparable because a phone cannot be Eco-friendly if you change it for a new one, just because of a broken screen. To access the internal compartments, just lift the back cover and you see all the six modules. And to lift the back cover there is only one screw to deal with. These are reasons why it has received 10/10 ratings from iFixit (the global community for repairs and fixes).
Due to its easy to repair system and Eco-friendly nature, you may find it less premium at a cost of $590, but that is a small amount to save the environment. -
Any used/refurbished smartphone
Around 140 million users ditch their smartphones and most of them end up in the second hand market of eBay, Amazon or Craiglist. Most of the cell phone manufacturers also offer refurbished phones at a reasonable price. If you really want a green smartphone, then buying refurbished one is the best idea.Now, let us move to the green smartphone accessories. We are listing a few of them below to go green in 2019. -
SunVolt Portable Solar Power Station ($100)
A solar panel packed in a neoprene bag. Just open the zip and it will be able to catch the sun rays to charge all your tablets, mobiles and many others. It comes with three cables, one to connect directly to the panel and a couple of others to charge the devices.
The waterproof neoprene bag has a front zip pouch to store cables, small stuff or portable devices while it is charging. - Woodbuds
Manufactured with very low carbon footprint, these headphones have FSC certified wood and bioplastic. Its purchasing box is 100 percent green and recyclable. Overall, this is a stylish product made with completely Eco-friendly but sustainable materials. The brand plants a tree after every 100 products sold and donate 1% of the income to environment supporting organizations. We all love music, so next time buys headphones from Woodbuds.3. Rukus portable solar Bluetooth speaker ($150)
Manufactured by Eton, the Eco-friendly speaker uses sunlight to charge and then play music from smartphones, notebooks or any Bluetooth enabled device. You can also charge these devices using the USB port. It has two 7 watts full range speakers, a carry handle, control buttons, and an E Ink display. Once fully charged, it can continue the entertainment for up to eight hours.If you are looking for a new smartphone, find a way to recycle the old one. You can easily sell the old one to online shops and make some money that will help in buying the new one. Apart from selling it for money, there are other various ways to recycle it.
One of the best ways is Call2recycle: You will make no money if you approach the organization, but still, you are helping yourself by helping our planet. They accept batteries as well and you will not find any difficulty to find the recycle location. Just open their website and it will automatically show you all the nearby drop boxes and collection outlets.
