The case about our mobile phones and how to be more conscious!

I am basically never not online anymore these days. My phone goes with me everywhere I go. The first reason for the mobile phone is one of the last events that I use it for: to make an ordinary phone call.

Rather, I check my e-mails, Social Media accounts and draft blog posts for my website. I even use it to watch TV, read articles and listen to audiobooks. The phone has become a one-stop-shop for communication, education, productivity and entertainment.

This got me thinking recently. If I spend so much time interacting with my phone every week, I might as well make this as good as possible an experience when holding it in my hands. The phone itself has gone through an extremely complex supply chain, traveling thousands of kilometres to transform from raw material to final product and then become my property.

If we want to have aesthetics that meet ethics towards the planet and people, we need to start with the right materials. Making a mobile phone 100% compostable is not feasible yet today, although there are fantastic companies such as Fairphone making at least ethically and refurbished phones. The impact that I can make with respect to my phone are the next two easy changes:

• Change my phone subscription to a company that puts purpose before profit, like GreenSpeak
• Use my phone case as long as possible even though it is made from petroleum-based plastic, a non-renewable resource
• Buy a phone case that is made entirely from 100% compostable materials and that is ethically produced and transported in a low carbon-emitting way

To find out my tip to better preserve the phone you already have while also making a statement that you do vote with your values, check out the insights shared on my website www.aest-ethics.com under INSIGHTS.