A slab of despair in your pocket
Here‘s some depressing information about those little gadgets we all love to carry around and obsessively check. A few years ago, when my old phone had to be replaced (not because it didn’t work anymore–it still had a lot of life left in it!–but because a four-year-old phone was “so old” they’d stopped making software for it), I really wanted to find a slavery-free phone. Sadly, I only found one option at that time, which was incompatible with American sim cards (Fairphone; definitely a company that’s on my watch list for when I’ve well and truly worn my current phone into the ground). Since that wasn’t an option, I instead tried to find the greenest smartphone I could, finding little more success in that area. Though these issues have come a little ways in that time, we’re still way behind where we should be, especially considering how integral smartphones are becoming.
This is both informative and depressing! I think this would be good to show in a class, because I feel like all people who have smartphones, not just language students, should know this stuff.
From a moral perspective, though, this raises the question—if an American has essentially no options to buy a smartphone that does not cause worker suffering or environmental damage, is the solution then that we should just not buy smartphones?
Wow, this IS depressing! Thanks, Melanie! <-(read sarcastically) It's too bad the Fairphone is incompatible in the US. I wonder if American tech companies would incorporate these practices if they were pressured by consumers. I bet they would. There should be campaigns to educate the public and I think the tech companies, themselves should take a stance a spearhead recycle programs. I think what Fairphone is doing sounds nice, but it's still not good enough. I think they should be resourcing all those minerals mentioned in the video through fair trade practices, not just gold. Do we just stop buying cellphones, like Jacob mentioned? If companies made phones more responsibly and didn't create gadgets intended to become obsolete within years, we could. They could find a way to market new technology using existing systems and help reduce waste.
As Jacob mentioned, the video is a great reference for all students, not just ELLs. Thanks for sharing, Melanie. <-(not sarcastic)
You’re funny, Jeanne! (<–not sarcastic 😉 )
I totally agree that companies want a high turnover of phones. And as long as the public is happy to plonk down hundreds of dollars every year or two for the latest phone, they have no incentive to do anything! I also heard one TedTalk (I think? Or maybe it was a documentary?? …I don't have the link) though that was saying that there's not actually a whole lot from e-waste that they can recycle. So it really comes down to the old 'Reduce, reuse, recycle.' I don't think it's likely or feasible to stop buying phones altogether, but I think we can let tech companies know that these things are important to us as consumers, and we can also hold on to our old phones as long as we're able….
As far as Fairphone goes, I disagree–I think what they're doing is amazing! It's actually incredible complex to establish truly fair trade supply chains, especially in an industry with little history of fair trade (and a big history of human and environmental abuse!). So I actually appreciate that they're taking their time to really work on ensuring the gold they use is fair trade and not just "fair trade", and they have a plan for the next elements they’ll work on addressing based on a bunch of factors–it’s actually really interesting (also depressing). I also love that their focus is on making each phone last as long as possible by replacing only what needs replacing–again, it’s reduce, reuse, recycle.
Hey, Melanie.. don’t get me wrong. I agree that what they are doing is amazing. I have helped separate recyclable materials (including computer parts) and brought them to recycle centers many times since I was very young. I realize not everything is recyclable and the the first two R’s, reduce and reuse should take precedence.
I’m not aware of the complexity of the fairtrade system and will need to look deeper into that. Thanks for the extra information about their plan.
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You’ve got a new fan here!
Very practical and actionable tips.