Tech and sustainability need to work together
A few years ago, I could buy a cell phone that would last me more than five years. That cell phone could last days on a full battery and survive a fall down a flight of stairs. I could text my friends and call my family whenever I wanted. I could even listen to music on my phone. I could do all of this with a small flip phone. If I still had that phone in a drawer in my room, it would probably still work.
Nowadays, a cell phone won’t last anyone more than three years. Planned obsolescence by smartphone companies such as Apple makes it impossible for my phone’s battery to last a few years. Smartphones are getting more expensive each year, and companies keep pushing newer models through hypercommercialism online and on TV. The smartphone industry is essentially an amalgamation of corporate greed, hyperconsumerism, and capitalism.
Let’s not forget how much waste and trash smartphones and technology produce every year. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that Americans generate almost 2.5 million tons of used electronics every year. The average consumer replaces their phones every two years, and most obsolete or unwanted phones eventually end up in landfills or uncontrolled dumps in the Global South. Companies that advertise recycling programs for their older models often resell the phones or ship them to overseas handlers. These “recycling” efforts contribute to local pollution and health problems. Additionally, the high-intensity labour and mining involved in smartphone production has negative impacts on human health and the environment.
It is somewhat baffling to me that smartphone corporations in North America are taking so long to figure out solutions on how to deal with e-waste. To me, the lack of large-scale problems to curb e-waste is disrespectful and neglectful to everyone on this planet. The Canadian and the United States governments have also been silent on the issue. There are no comprehensive laws and policies to govern consumer electronics and how consumer electronics will be handled after they become obsolete. I wonder if corporations are lobbying to prevent government officials from tabling a policy. It is extremely unfair to blame consumers for the e-waste issue when the problem starts from the top: silence from government and corporations.
So what can we do? Unfortunately, until a comprehensive program is in place, we can only do our best to prevent e-waste filtering into our landfills. Don’t buy a new phone every two to three years if your phone is still in working condition. You can sell your old phones (that still work) online at websites such as Facebook Marketplace and eBay. You can also see if you can find a place that recycles your old electronics and repurposes them for low-income residents or new immigrants in your local community. You are helping your community and your environment that way. It’s a win-win!
Culturally, we need to ask difficult questions and push these corporations and governments to create programs for comprehensive e-waste management. We need to figure out an acceptable way to recycle old consumer electronics in a manner that is acceptable to our health and our environment.
We need to take action. We need to demand change. It is not enough to know about the issues around smartphone and electronics consumption. You can participate in local environmental coalitions and action groups. You can write letters to your local representative on the federal level. Achieving sustainability and environmental goals in the tech industry requires a collective effort to get our voices heard. We need to demand a system to recycle, refurbish, repurpose, recover, and replace old consumer electronics in a safe for us and the environment.
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