We need (and love) technology
Like it or not, electronic gadgets have become essential to everyday life; nowadays, you don’t need to be a nerd to own (at least) a laptop and a smartphone. These tools are not only great for work or to connect with other people, but you can also watch your favourite movie on your laptop, or pay for your shopping using your smartphone. Technological devices are everywhere, making our daily tasks easier, and they are improved and made more efficient and powerful every day.
But technology can be bad for the environment
As exciting as that might sound, there is a big downside to the unstoppable technologic advancements; they create the need to have the newest model, in a sort of race to be best equipped. And getting the latest shiny smartphone is not only a cosmetic necessity: have you ever tried installing a new app on the smartphone you bought two years ago? All companies are making their products obsolete usually after a year, forcing their customers to get rid of their ‘not so old, but not enough new’ gadgets and regularly buying their new products.
It’s a winning marketing strategy for them, but a big waste of money for us, and a loss of the environment: nearly half a billion small tech items were thrown away in 2022 only in the UK1, and ended up polluting our landfills.
And we are not talking only about plastic pollution here; your beloved phone contains metals like lead, mercury and cadmium which contaminate soil and water when not properly discarded; this ends up entering the food chain and affecting local communities and wildlife.
Last but not least, this “throw away” culture increases the consumption of raw materials needed to build new tech, intensifying the loss of valuable and irreplaceable natural resources. Moreover the production and disposal of new tech are energy – intensive and have a huge carbon footprint, contributing to climate change.
What can we all do?
So what should we do about this? Buying less frequently, or second hand, and try repairing before buying new definitely helps reducing your technological footprint: but also the way we dispose of our gadget when they reach the end of their life can make a huge difference in our contribution towards the environment. Even if we take the best care of our possessions, we will all need to replace our laptop or smartphone at some point, but there are many alternatives to simply throwing everything in the rubbish. Let’s look at some of them together…
- Sell online on second hand marketplaces: if your phone is still in working condition, you can find someone who will buy it; you can even sell your phone if it’s not working, as some buyers will be looking for parts.
- Donate to charities: there are A LOT of organizations which will take your unwanted technology and give it to people in need.
- Recycle responsibly: if your laptop can’t be sold or donated, a quick search online will tell you your nearest recycling centre, where you can drop your electronic waste and where professionals will dispose of it in the right way.
Stay safe – remember to always protect your data
Whatever you decide to do, remember to delete all your personal data from these machines; that means not only dragging all your photos and document to the trash bin, but also formatting your laptop or phone so that nobody can access your (and your contacts) information. Apparently, even if you delete all the files stored in your laptop, somebody with the right software can retrieve those data from the hard drive. If you don’t know how to reset your devices, there are companies which can do that for you…I had a big clear out recently of a bunch of technological gadgets, I held on them much longer that I should have and they were all very old and/or broken so couldn’t really sell them; I contacted a local charity who could refurbish or recycle them, and they offered free collection and data wiping.
A little research will take you a long (green) way
Do your research, and you’ll find a student in need of a laptop, or a charity raising money for a good cause, which will make good use of your unwanted tech. Worst case scenario, it will be recycled properly and it won’t end up polluting our cities.
Another little step for us, but a huge help for our environment.
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67082005 ↩︎