There is a wave that travels across the planet, concern for the environment. Participating in some way in the improvement of the situation in which the planet Earth finds itself spreads rapidly, anywhere or at any time. With all kinds of actions and objects you can contribute to improving health in this world. Extending the life of technological devices, such as mobile phones, is one more step in this contribution. Everyone knows the four R's of ecology; recycle, reduce, reuse and repair everyday objects. With these actions, it is possible to effectively lower the levels of pollution and garbage that the human race produces daily. The production of technological devices is one of the activities that expels the most CO2 into the atmosphere and accumulates polluting waste. According to the United Nations Environment Program, annually no less than 40 million tons of e-waste. Garbage that a good part corresponds to mobile devices. The speed of production is enormous, only comparable to the speed with which waste accumulates, contaminating forests, seas, rivers and groundwater. Contaminating residues that are harmful to nature and to people, such as heavy metals that contain mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, antimony, or more polluting elements such as lithium or coltan, are spread without remission. Fortunately, actions can be carried out that reduce this fatal effect, at least 3 R's of the four used to protect the general environment can be applied in mobile phone consumption; reuse, recycle and repair.
Reuse mobiles
If the telephone set still works, but you have thought about acquiring a more advanced one, with new features and capabilities, it is possible that the old may have a new life. In fact, as discussed in this analysis, older mobiles can work perfectly as secondary phones, taking them to work or the field and saving the new or higher-end ones for more special occasions. But, this is not all, it is also possible to reuse them taking advantage of only one of its functions, such as transforming it into a webcam or on a surveillance camera, on a Nintendo gameboy, on a Google home smart speaker, as a universal remote control, wireless mouse, music player, photo store ...
Recycle mobiles
Although it may seem the same thing, it is not the same to reuse than to recycle, since in these cases what is intended is process the material that make up these terminals to transform it into raw material that can be used again, without reaching nature and contaminating it. Mobile phone recycling, only in Spain, prevents more than 60.000 tons of CO2 from reaching the air, so this small effort is worth it. Among the recycling options, the so-called solidarity recycling. There are not a few NGOs, they do have recycling programs to obtain money and use it in a just cause. Among the most prominent should be named Oxfam Intermon and Amnesty International, which collaborate with Movilbak, a company that manages the possible repair of mobile phones or their recycling, in which case, hazardous waste will be treated according to the regulations. Another option is recycle it and get some money for it. There are companies that carry out the same management as the aforementioned Movilbak, it is the case of Zonzoo, Money & mobiles or TopDollarMobile that, in addition to carrying out adequate management according to waste regulations, pays the person who gives up the mobile. The company itself is in charge of carrying out an appraisal of the device, the collection and the payment of the mobile within a period of 48 hours. The user will not have to worry about more than establishing contact with them, nothing more.
Repair mobiles
Despite the fact that manufacturers of mobile phones and tablets do everything possible to make it difficult to fix their devices, according to a study by the OCU, the trend begins to change thanks to the pressure exerted by organisms like this and that of consumers themselves. 60% of the breakdowns in these devices occur before they are two years old and, "curiously", 29% of the most serious problems occur between 2 and 3 years, just after the warranty expires. Fortunately, The Ministry of Consumer Affairs is working on the development of a Reparability Index that will classify electrical appliances, including mobile devices, according to their difficulty to be repaired. This Right to Repair, which was voted positive in Europe, will help consumers both make better purchasing decisions and allow them to carry out repairs that extend the life of their mobile devices, while reducing pollution and the amount of waste. This proposition is about incentivize both consumers and manufacturing companies to fight obsolescence and, in this way, reduce the enormous ecological footprint produced by electronic devices. On the other hand, the creation of jobs is foreseen in the form of specialized workshops to carry out arrangements on mobiles, so the news couldn't be better.
There is a wave that travels across the planet, concern for the environment. Participating in some way in the improvement of the situation in which the planet Earth finds itself spreads rapidly, anywhere or at any time. With all kinds of actions and objects you can contribute to improving health in this world. Extending the life of technological devices, such as mobile phones, is one more step in this contribution. Everyone knows the four R's of ecology; recycle, reduce, reuse and repair everyday objects. With these actions, it is possible to effectively lower the levels of pollution and garbage that the human race produces daily. The production of technological devices is one of the activities that expels the most CO2 into the atmosphere and accumulates polluting waste. According to the United Nations Environment Program, annually no less than 40 million tons of e-waste. Garbage that a good part corresponds to mobile devices. The speed of production is enormous, only comparable to the speed with which waste accumulates, contaminating forests, seas, rivers and groundwater. Contaminating residues that are harmful to nature and to people, such as heavy metals that contain mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, antimony, or more polluting elements such as lithium or coltan, are spread without remission. Fortunately, actions can be carried out that reduce this fatal effect, at least 3 R's of the four used to protect the general environment can be applied in mobile phone consumption; reuse, recycle and repair.
Reuse mobiles
If the telephone set still works, but you have thought about acquiring a more advanced one, with new features and capabilities, it is possible that the old may have a new life. In fact, as discussed in this analysis, older mobiles can work perfectly as secondary phones, taking them to work or the field and saving the new or higher-end ones for more special occasions. But, this is not all, it is also possible to reuse them taking advantage of only one of its functions, such as transforming it into a webcam or on a surveillance camera, on a Nintendo gameboy, on a Google home smart speaker, as a universal remote control, wireless mouse, music player, photo store ...
Recycle mobiles
Although it may seem the same thing, it is not the same to reuse than to recycle, since in these cases what is intended is process the material that make up these terminals to transform it into raw material that can be used again, without reaching nature and contaminating it. Mobile phone recycling, only in Spain, prevents more than 60.000 tons of CO2 from reaching the air, so this small effort is worth it. Among the recycling options, the so-called solidarity recycling. There are not a few NGOs, they do have recycling programs to obtain money and use it in a just cause. Among the most prominent should be named Oxfam Intermon and Amnesty International, which collaborate with Movilbak, a company that manages the possible repair of mobile phones or their recycling, in which case, hazardous waste will be treated according to the regulations. Another option is recycle it and get some money for it. There are companies that carry out the same management as the aforementioned Movilbak, it is the case of Zonzoo, Money & mobiles or TopDollarMobile that, in addition to carrying out adequate management according to waste regulations, pays the person who gives up the mobile. The company itself is in charge of carrying out an appraisal of the device, the collection and the payment of the mobile within a period of 48 hours. The user will not have to worry about more than establishing contact with them, nothing more.
Repair mobiles
Despite the fact that manufacturers of mobile phones and tablets do everything possible to make it difficult to fix their devices, according to a study by the OCU, the trend begins to change thanks to the pressure exerted by organisms like this and that of consumers themselves. 60% of the breakdowns in these devices occur before they are two years old and, "curiously", 29% of the most serious problems occur between 2 and 3 years, just after the warranty expires. Fortunately, The Ministry of Consumer Affairs is working on the development of a Reparability Index that will classify electrical appliances, including mobile devices, according to their difficulty to be repaired. This Right to Repair, which was voted positive in Europe, will help consumers both make better purchasing decisions and allow them to carry out repairs that extend the life of their mobile devices, while reducing pollution and the amount of waste. This proposition is about incentivize both consumers and manufacturing companies to fight obsolescence and, in this way, reduce the enormous ecological footprint produced by electronic devices. On the other hand, the creation of jobs is foreseen in the form of specialized workshops to carry out arrangements on mobiles, so the news couldn't be better.