Mobile Phones and Gadgets? An Eco Menace?
We all use them and despite the fact that most of the mobile phones, mp3 players and other devices having only been around a decade or so – many of us are completely dependent on them.
Not only are the latest gadgets useful and an important parts of our day-to-day lives they are also fashion and status symbols with many people changing to the latest and next generation phone or iPod every year or so.
However, there are environmental down sides to our mobile phone use and dependence on other gadgets:
One of the major problems with mobile phones is their lack of recyclable material. Whilst some of the alloys and materials used (such as gold) can be extracted, there are other toxic chemicals and materials that can’t. Some of these heavy metals and materials can be a menace to both human health and the environment. These metals can get into water tables causing pollution and other problems.
Mobile phones and other gadgets also mount up on landfills as they don’t degrade. Often they are shipped abroad to developing countries causing even more problems for the people and environments in some of the world’s poorest countries.
Energy use
Whilst the amount of power our gadgets use is only slight – it can all add up. If everybody who uses these small battery powered devices charged them up using solar powered chargers, then the cumulative energy saving would be huge.
Also there is a great deal of CO2 emissions generated in their production and use. Think of those huge mobile phone transmitters and the amount of power they require – not to mention all the energy that went into mining the materials and assembling the devices in the first place.
Eco friendly use
You can cut down on the environmental impact of mobile phones and other gadgets by following these two rules:
As mentioned use solar powered chargers, this will reduce your carbon footprint when you use them, although it won;t reduce it to zero as the transmitters still have to be powered.
Don’t replace your mobile phone or other device until absolutely necessary. This will not only reduce the amount of toxic materials that your disposed gadget but will also reduce the impact of manufacturing a new phone.
Richard N Williams is interested in green innovations and writes about them. Please visit our website if you are interested in solar powered chargers or other eco-friendly products













