Top 6 Ways To Make Your Smartphone Eco-Friendly

 

In the dawn of technology, electronics in general, or more specifically, smartphones have become an indispensable part of our life due to their convenience.

 

Unfortunately, even though you might not be aware of the drastic impact of your phone usage, many studies illustrate that they have a huge detrimental contribution to the environment in form of gas emissions, improper waste, and disposal of materials. These problems account for 85 percent of the total carbon released by telecommunication organizations.

 

Therefore, to reduce the greenhouse effect and protect our planet, let's go green by utilizing your smartphone with as little harm as possible to the ecosystem. This article might help with some suggestions.

 

6 Ways To Take Into Consideration To Make Your Phone Eco-Friendly

 

1. Use Energy Saving Chargers

As you may know, reducing power consumption means reducing the number of toxic fumes released by power plants and conserving the earth's natural resources. Thus, you can help by purchasing a charger that requires less energy.

 

Since not all phone chargers are created equally, some consume more electricity than others, a lower energy-use charger will be a good option to not only save some money on your electricity bill but also lessen the emissions. You should look for chargers that take 30mW of energy or less and usually have a five-star energy rating on them.

 

 

2. Consider Used Phones Instead Of New Ones

As there are more and more people aspiring to stay updated to the newest version, used phones are no longer worthless. They might still work very effectively and can meet all your daily needs.

 

Thus, whenever you have an appetite to change your phone, you can take used ones into account because it can do wonders for your budget and reduce the amount of e-waste ending up in the landfill as well.

 

In case the most satisfying option with all the functions you need does not have a shiny appearance, you can easily cover it with a case.

 

Not only does a case protect your device from unexpected damage but it also adds some value to your phone. Providing your worry is about the fact that common materials like plastic and silicone can eventually cause harm to the environment, consider the use of an ultimate biodegradable case found at https://ecofreek.com/biodegradable/pela-case-review/ link. Browsing for recyclable products in advance may help avoid remorse because of your contribution to ecosystem damage.

 

3. Use Your Phones As Long As Possible

Nowadays, people whose budget is not a concern tend to buy a new phone once a better, trendier version comes out.

 

Nevertheless, you should get every last drop of value from a device before moving on because e-waste has become a threat to the environment. It's also highly valuable as a recycle product as it contains both valuable and hazardous, or even radioactive materials like lead, plastic, chromium, mercury, beryllium, cadmium, and acids which require special handling and recycling methods. In other words, these products are not easy to recycle, and they are not designed for recycling but contain rare earth materials that are limited in supply.

 

Below are some tips to extend your phones' life:

• Regularly update the apps: convenient apps are becoming more popular. To make the best of them, it is a good idea to keep your apps updated.
• Remove apps that are no longer needed: after such a long time of usage, you should sort out if there are any unused apps and then get rid of them. This tiny step can incredibly speed your phone up.
• Keep your phone clean: the screen and ports should be cleaned frequently to maintain its bright appearance and functionality. Being full of dust or grease makes your phone look much older and eventually encourages you to buy a new one when it is unnecessary.
• Take care of the battery: overheating and overworking should be avoided to make sure the battery will work properly in the long run. If you do need to replace it, it's better than replacing the whole phone from an environmental perspective.
• Backup your phone: there are now numerous cloud storage sites that you can take advantage of such as iCloud, OneDrive, Google Drive, or DropBox. Plus, you can also delete draft documents or trash files existing on your phone to enhance its efficiency.

4. Use It Less Often

Your mobile carbon footprint relies on how frequently you use your phone. It is estimated that the average phone emits 94 kg of carbon dioxide over its lifetime or about 47 kg per year. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

 

Papers have proven that telecommunications networks and data centers consume a lot of energy to serve users' needs. Most data centers have been being powered by electricity generated by fossil fuels. It's the energy consumption we don't see.

 

Reducing the amount of time spent on your phone has various benefits from extending the phone's life, lessening the risk of your mental and physical health to alleviating your impact on environmental issues.

 

 

5. Support Companies With Environmental Concern

Even though all companies must abide by certain eco-friendly laws, many will do the bare minimum just to avoid being fined as they prioritize their profit.

 

Due to the severity of the current climate crisis, we must applaud the companies that continue to prioritize and work on the cutting edge of environmental innovation.

 

What is more, purchasing your devices from those organizations whose focus is on the environment is much more reliable as they place their impact on the community as a high-level concern and consider sustainability as more important than temporary financial benefits.

 

It is easier said than done. You can effortlessly search on the internet with "eco-friendly companies" keywords, however, how can users know whether those companies are going green? You can explore it on their websites by looking for their environmentally sustainable practices.

 

6. Search For Phone Recycling Program

In case your phone can no longer be used, think of recycling programs before disposing of it. As mentioned above, electronic devices such as smartphones have many substances that are not disposable, even when they are seriously damaged, they still tremendously harm the ecosystem.

 

Hence, it is necessary to look for those programs. Many places accept mobile phones for recycling by collecting your old phone, you will receive a new one paying some extra money or get the money for your old phone. There are even programs that refurbish your old phone and then gift it to someone in need.

 

Mutual Effort Is Required To Go Against The Climate Crisis

The environmental changes of the current climate are a warning for all human beings. Individuals can make little difference without the strength of unity.

 

Therefore, you can help by simply applying new phone usage habits to fight against the trends of greenhouse emissions and enhance the quality of life for everyone in the process.