Smartphone upcycling concept helps give your old companion a new lease on life

Mobile devices, both smartphones and tablets, have become an inescapable fact of modern life to the point that almost everyone has one. While they do empower people with their smart features, they unfortunately also inflict damage on the environment, whether it’s through their manufacturing or, more often than not, their improper disposal. Not all smartphone manufacturers have a well-established or easy process for owners to send back unused or broken devices for handling and responsible disposal, which means many of these end up in landfills where they eventually poison the soil and water. Some of these aren’t even totally broken just outdated or unused for one reason or another. Finding a different use for them delays their untimely demise, which is exactly what this upcycling concept tries to do, offering smartphones a better life after death.

Designer: Think Tank Team

There could be a variety of reasons for ditching an old but still functional smartphone. Some parts, like the screen, battery, or charging port might no longer be in tip-top shape, or the owner simply upgraded to a newer model that will last them another two years or so. Whatever the reason may be, it might not actually be enough to warrant simply throwing the phone in the waste bin, or even just keeping it in a drawer until it’s forgotten forever or, worse, becomes a safety hazard.

Project Afterlife tries to remedy that situation by upcycling rather than recycling the phone. This means it puts the device to a different use without actually modifying it or taking it apart, thereby using less energy, less resources, and less effort. This increases the likelihood that people will adopt this product because it is accessible and easy to use.

The product concept pretty much comes in a taco-like crescent shape made of recycled plastic and given a frosted finish. You simply slide in the phone from the opening and set it on a flat surface with its curved edge at the bottom. The shape is balanced in such a way that it will stay still unless you intentionally rock it, and that rocking motion actually affects its functions. Just like a game controller with motion sensors, tilting the phone lets you cycle through its different modes without having to touch the screen. Rocking also makes the “Endless Clock” change the clock face at every movement, while both the “Timeline” photo stream and the “Moment” abstract art display also react to such movement.

Admittedly, you can simply take that same old smartphone, put it on a stand, and use it in the same way as a clock or small photo frame. Project Afterlife, however, also transforms the phone into a kinetic art object that will enhance the ambiance of your desk or shelf. It’s a simple yet impressive example of how upcycling not only helps save the environment but even adds value to your experience.

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This aluminum bench stands on the shoulders of discarded Mac Pro cases

Apple is not a big fan of reusing its products for something else, at least something that is still close to the original function of the design. It probably won’t object to completely unrelated applications of those designs, especially when it’s for a creative and artistic purpose. The non-functional parts of an iPhone, for example, could be disassembled and framed to be displayed as a piece of tech history. Or one might simply take the empty shells of old Mac Pro and turn them into a piece of structural art, which is exactly what this rather striking metal bench tries to accomplish in a way that will probably make you wonder how strong those old Apple desktops might have been.

Designers: Quinner Baird, Alec Alborg, Ferb Liebana, Berit Levy, Jaime Uriarte (Caliper)

The designs for more recent Mac Pros have been rather controversial, to say the least. The cylindrical 2013 was derided for looking like a trash can, while the boxy 2019 design, though a bit more traditional, is jokingly called a cheese grater. Neither are good foundations for a stable piece of furniture, but the first-ever Mac Pro fortunately fits the bill perfectly. It was a minimalist brushed aluminum box with tapered legs on the front and back to raise it up and equally tapered handles on those same sides for easier lifting.

Made for Manhattan clothing brand Hidden as part of store display, the Mac Pro Bench is exactly what it sounds like. It takes two first-gen Mac Pros, totally gutted of any and all electronic components, and has a folded aluminum plank attached on top. The plan has a tapered shape that fits perfectly between the front and back handles, making it feel as if the desktops were made for this very purpose. Two versions of the bench exist, one preserving the brushed aluminum aesthetic of the Mac Pro, and another thoroughly coated in Hidden’s green motif.

It’s not being sold en masse, which will probably keep Apple’s lawyers happy, though there are also ways to make your own. That said, it’s probably not a good idea outside of making it a decorative piece. It’s actually not tested how much weight the Mac Pros will be able to handle, especially with a bench meant to sit more than one person. The hollow legs of the desktop don’t look reassuring either, and it might have been more practical to have sawed those off, even if it meant ruining the original Mac Pro shape.

That said, it’s possible to reinforce the foundations of the Mac Pro Bench to make it a more usable piece of furniture. More importantly, however, the piece of art could also spark the imagination and creativity of others to make similar designs that reuse discarded desktop PCs in a less conventional and more interesting manner.

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Ikea repurposes old uniforms into new lifestyle collection

Over the past years, we’ve “stanned” brands that not only uses sustainable materials but are also able to upcycle and recycle materials to create new products. We’ve become conscious about how we consume things (well, hopefully, we’ve actually become conscious of it) and how this consumption culture affects this planet we’re living in. Ikea is trying to capture our hearts by creating a new lifestyle line created from materials that they themselves had to discard.

Designer: Ikea

The Swedish brand will be launching their newest collection called VÄXELBRUK which is uniquely made from their recycled coworker uniforms that were discarded when they introduced new attire back in 2020. So instead of just throwing these old uniforms into the trash heaps, they came up with new products that were made from 300 tonnes of these “useless” IKEA uniforms. If you’re not a fan of yellow and blue though, you might want to look elsewhere, even though they managed to tone down the colors considerably without dyeing the textile, which can be more expensive and resource-intensive.

The collection features 16 textile-based items that use the aforementioned old uniforms. This includes things like throw pillows, bags, cushion covers, and even curtains. They are not entirely made from the uniform textile though as they are blended with other recycled materials like polyester from used PET bottles. They also even included some of the “faulty” new uniforms so they will also not go to waste. The inclusion of other materials also helped to alter the colors that are normally so bright.

If you didn’t know that they were made from discarded co-worker uniforms, you’ll just think they’re normal Ikea products that use the iconic colors of the brand. But knowing there they come from makes it even more interesting. The VÄXELBRUK (which means interchangeable use in the Swedish language) collection will be released in February 2024 across Europe stores.

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A Sustainable Lighting Solution That Redefines The Interaction Between Light And Sound

In the ever-evolving landscape of technology and design, the fusion of functionality and artistic expression continues to yield groundbreaking innovations. One such marvel is Oloïd, a sustainable acoustic luminaire born from the collaborative synergy of Impact Acoustic; a provider of sustainable acoustic solutions, and the esteemed design studio atelier oï. This unique lighting fixture not only delivers exceptional sound absorption but also redefines the way light and sound interact, creating a transformative experience that enhances the ambiance of any space.

Designer: Impact Acoustic Atelier oï

At the heart of Oloïd’s revolutionary design lies Archisonic Felt, a high-performance sustainable acoustic absorber crafted from upcycled PET bottles. This versatile material demonstrates outstanding sound absorption capabilities and embodies a commitment to sustainability and responsible material sourcing. The Cradle to Cradle certification and LEED accreditation of Archisonic Felt underscore its eco-friendly credentials, aligning with the growing demand for environmentally conscious design solutions.

Oloïd distinguishes itself by offering a transformative lighting experience that seamlessly integrates functionality with artistic expression. The collaboration between Impact Acoustic and Atelier oï is not merely about illuminating a space but about creating an immersive environment where light and sound harmonize effortlessly.

Aurel Aebi, a key figure at Atelier oï, highlights the creative process that brought Oloïd to life. “At atelier oï, we often begin our creative process with an encounter with the material,” Aebi explains. “Our goal was to find a way to make the sustainable material speak in a new way.” This innovative approach involved working with the material’s stiffness and flatness to create organic shapes that redefine conventional luminaire design.

Oloïd is available in a stunning array of 32 colors, presenting a curated selection from the Archisonic Felt range. This diversity empowers users to personalize their spaces, allowing for the creation of bespoke environments that reflect individual tastes and preferences. The luminaire’s design seamlessly integrates the organic shapes derived from the unique qualities of Archisonic Felt, transcending two-dimensional panels into captivating three-dimensional entities.

Sven Erni, co-founder of Impact Acoustic, expresses his fascination with the collaborative process that transformed their material. “The collaboration fascinated us as we witnessed the metamorphosis of our material,” Erni notes. “This was made possible using a distinctive cutting technique at specific angles and the skillful folding of the panels. This creative approach seamlessly transformed the two-dimensional panels into fascinating three-dimensional entities, transcending surfaces to tangible bodies.”

Oloïd not only sets a new standard for sound-absorbing luminaires but also stands as a testament to the potential of sustainable design in reshaping our surroundings. With its commitment to responsible material usage, innovative design, and the seamless integration of light and sound, Oloïd emerges as a beacon of eco-conscious creativity, inviting us to reimagine the possibilities of our illuminated spaces.

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Upcycled skateboard factory rejects transform into warm wall lighting

Recycling is a great way to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, but the process itself can sometimes have some negative impact. There’s still a lot of energy and water involved in converting materials into something usable again, and there’s also some loss when the original design gets destroyed in the process. Upcycling is a more efficient and time-saving alternative, but not everything can be upcycled and not everything that can be upcycled can be used in newer and better ways. Sometimes, it takes a bit more creative thinking to transform one thing into a completely different thing, like how factory seconds from skateboard manufacturers are turned into these understated yet elegant wall lamps.

Designers: Michael and Mariel Upton

Skateboards are objects that bring up images of speed, tricks, and devilish stunts. They’re hardly associated with warmth, subtlety, or even light. Of course, these associations aren’t inherent in the shape of the skateboard’s wooden deck, which makes them open for reuse and reinterpretation, as the case of this trio of wall lamps demonstrates, providing stylish lighting that hardly gives a clue to their origins.

Considering the long oval shapes of skateboard decks, not to mention their upward curved ends, you definitely wouldn’t be able to guess that these wall lights are exactly made from those wooden parts. That’s because these pieces of 7-ply maple wood are taken from factory rejects, decks that obviously didn’t make the cut. Since the shapes of these boards are too specific for general use, they often end up simply being discarded. They’re thankfully made from wood, so they’re biodegradable and have fewer harmful effects on the environment, but they’re still waste and, more importantly, wasted opportunity.

Upton thankfully has the wonderful idea of using those boards to provide ambient lighting as well as a piece of minimalist wall art. The discarded decks are cut to create a shorter and straighter oval shape and then paired with lighting hardware on the back. Each of the three variants, namely, Heru, Cuna, and Mara, get a square piece of original art that becomes the visual center of the entire fixture. With this, even if the light is off, the designs act as decorative pieces that enhance a room’s ambiance in a subtle way.

When the light is on, however, you get a warm ambient halo of light that sets a calming and relaxing mood in any space. The light is emitted from the back and is reflected on the mounting surface, making it look softer and avoiding painful glare when you look in its direction. The wall lamp projects a character of calm and warmth, definitely not something you’d expect from a speedster skateboard that it would have become in some other lifetime.

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A Step Towards Sustainable Personal Care With Upcycled Deodorant

In today’s world, where sustainability is at the forefront of consumer consciousness, innovative solutions that challenge the status quo are celebrated. One such groundbreaking product is Refresh, a sustainable and refillable deodorant that redefines personal care standards while making a significant impact on environmental conservation.

Designer: Elanur Aslan

Refresh takes sustainability to new heights by upcycling waste plastics to create its packaging. This ingenious approach breathes new life into discarded materials, giving them a renewed purpose and diverting them from landfills. By doing so, Refresh not only reduces the burden on our environment but also sets a precedent for responsible consumption and production.

One of the standout features of Refresh is its refillable design. The inner chamber of the deodorant is easily replaceable, allowing users to extend the life of the packaging. This simple yet effective innovation curtails the need for new plastic manufacturing, which is a significant contributor to plastic waste in our oceans and landfills. By embracing this refillable concept, Refresh encourages consumers to be part of the solution to the plastic pollution problem.

The ergonomic design of Refresh ensures effortless application, making it a user-friendly choice for those seeking a sustainable alternative to conventional deodorants. Beyond functionality, Refresh’s departure from traditional deodorant packaging exemplifies a commitment to forward-thinking sustainability. It sets a new standard for personal care products, emphasizing that sustainability should be a cornerstone of our daily routines.

In a world where sustainability is a shared responsibility, Refresh is a beacon of hope. By diverting plastics from landfills, this innovative product conserves valuable resources and reduces energy consumption. It embodies the principles of a circular economy, where materials are repurposed and given a new lease on life. Recycling waste plastics through high-pressure compression not only lessens the harm to our environment but also reduces the demand for new plastic production, ultimately reducing our carbon footprint.

Refresh encourages us to reshape today for a sustainable tomorrow. By choosing to refill and reuse, we contribute to a cleaner and more responsible future. The availability of deodorant refills ensures that the product remains effective for the long term while promoting responsible consumer behaviour.

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However, Refresh is not just about sustainability; it’s also about aesthetics and functionality. Its sleek lines, innovative use of recycled materials, and ergonomic shape come together to create a harmonious blend of form and function. When you choose Refresh, you’re not only making a statement about your commitment to the environment, but you’re also embracing a product that aligns with your discerning sense of style.

In conclusion, Refresh is a game-changer in the personal care industry. It sets a new standard for sustainability by upcycling waste plastics, promoting refill and reuse, and offering a product that combines aesthetics and functionality. By choosing Refresh, you’re not only making a responsible choice for today but also investing in a cleaner, more sustainable future. It’s a reminder that sustainability should be at the heart of every product we use and every choice we make.

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These fuzzy pendant lights are made from stacked felt cut-offs

Whenever we try to make something, there will always be materials that are cut off, left unused, and ultimately thrown away. Whether it’s paper, wood, plastic, textile, or even metal, these wasted materials end up hurting the environment sooner or later, whether directly or indirectly. There is now a more conscientious effort among manufacturers and designers to pay attention to such wasted resources, either by reducing their number or reusing them for some other purpose. The former requires smarter and more ingenious designs that utilize every inch of a material, which can sometimes be more difficult than it sounds. Fortunately, recycling and upcycling cut-offs can actually be easier, especially if you can combine them into interesting shapes that serve as the foundations of beautiful furniture and lighting fixtures such as these hanging lamps.

Designers: Anthony Frank Keeler, Sarah Coleman, Wisse Trooster

We saw Stackabl earlier this year as one of those efforts to upcycle factor off-cut felt. More than just a specific collection of chairs and couches, however, it was actually a tool that lets you design your own seat using stacked layers of material. Given their textile origins, seating furniture seems to be the most immediate application for this tool, but now you can also use the configurator to design comfy-looking lamps to hang from your ceilings.

Stackabl is like a DIY tool for designing your own pendant lamp. It lets customers dictate different parameters like the length of the lamp, the diameter of the “discs” of felt, and even where the actual lights will be located along the stack of material. Of course, you can also mix and match different colors, creating a composition that is as harmonious or as discordant as you like. You don’t even have to be limited to a single disc size since you can shrink or grow the circles anywhere along the length of the lamp.

The result is a modular pendant lamp that is both striking and sustainable. It’s almost too easy to compare it with a tower of pancakes if not for the more earthy tones that the material has. Since no two configurations are identical (unless you intend them to be so), each Stackabl pendant lamp is immediately unique and personal. The lamps also convey feelings of warmth and fuzziness because of the woven felt as well as the diffused light. It makes for a perfect mood-setter for areas that need to feel cozy and comfortable.

It’s not just the upcycled felt that’s environment-friendly, even though it’s the main focus of the Stackabl system. The aluminum used to hold things together is also upcycled, and the LEDs that provide illumination are considered to be more power-efficient than conventional bulbs. It’s not a completely green product, with the use of acrylic covers to diffuse the light and adhesives to keep things together, but it still takes an important step toward sustainability by giving leftover materials a new home.

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Mosevic denim sunglasses upcycles thigh-wear to eyewear

It’s almost too easy to take for granted the way clothing and apparel can affect the environment. After all, they aren’t completely made from plastic, though some are made from synthetic non-biodegradable fibers. Textile, however, uses a lot of water, energy, and toxic chemicals, and the denim material that makes up our favorite jeans is one of those culprits. Given how many of us go through dozens of clothes a year or just how many unsold clothes are made annually, the potential for textile to overrun landfills is frighteningly high. Of course, we can always recycle them, but few people and companies actually do that. Fortunately, there is also a rising trend of upcycling used products or material waste, like this startup that turns fashionable jeans into fashionable sunglasses.

Designer: Jack Spencer (Mosevic)

Denim has unique material and visual properties that make it an interesting ingredient in many products or artworks that aren’t related to clothing. The unique patterns and rough texture of denim make it easily distinguishable among other textiles, so anything that “wears” it will make one immediately think of jeans. As it turns out, it’s also possible to turn denim into other objects with the right mix of ingredients that make it almost as tough as plastic but exponentially more eco-friendly.

Mosevic was born from a desire to reduce the negative impact of wasted denim material on the environment, even by just a little bit. Just like how layers of carbon fibers mixed with resin have become a common material used in engineering, the “Shades of Denim” collection is made from layers of waste denim infused with bio-resin and then pressed to become a solid structure. The resulting material is then machined into the individual parts that make up the eyewear and then connected with specially-designed metal reinforcements.

The resulting “Solid Denim” material retains many of the desirable properties of denim, like the patterns of cotton fibers formed when cutting through the material, as well as the texture and appearance of denim. However, unlike typical denim, these pieces are finished with hard natural wax that makes them resistant to water and oils, such as those on your skin or sunscreen. For all intents and purposes, these sunglasses are like your typical shades, except that they look like designer accessories because of their unique flair.

The Mosevic sunglasses give old jeans and waste denim a new home and delay their eventual fate in landfills. That said, the entire process isn’t yet completely sustainable, both in an environmental way and in business terms. The sunglasses are handmade in small batches, a process that takes up to two weeks to finish. Fortunately, there are plans to scale up and make the process more efficient for larger numbers, which ultimately translates to more denim material being upcycled.

Given the amount of denim used, however, it still wouldn’t put a dent in the textile waste problem. Every little bit counts, though, and the use of textile in this manner could spark the imagination and creativity of other designers to come up with ways to upcycle materials and transform them into something new and something beautiful.

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TOOB turns bicycle inner tubes into rubbery hand-made accessories

The interest, purchase, and use of bicycles have seen an uptick in the past few years, but these leg-powered two-wheeled vehicles have been around for decades. Many of their problems have also been around just as long, including the parts that easily get worn down and then thrown away. Although significantly more sustainable than cars or even motorcycles, bikes have parts that are definitely environment-unfriendly. Those range from bits of plastic here and there as well as toxic chemicals used in painting their metal frames. Rubber tires and inner tubes, however, are even bigger sources of pollutants down the road. Fortunately, this line of accessories puts inner tubes to a different use, allowing them to go the distance even after they have served their original purpose.

Designer: Roy Sherizly (TOOB)

Bicycle tires are meant to last a long time, but they do eventually meet their end, sometimes sooner than planned. They get worn down over the years, sure, but accidents might make them completely unusable at some earlier point in time. The same is especially true for inner tubes that can no longer be used entirely when they get damaged. These rubber-based products get thrown out and aren’t biodegradable, so they eventually break down into microplastics that pollute waters and even the soil. That green and sustainable lifestyle you’ve chosen suddenly becomes less so because of these wasted inner tubes.

Fortunately, inner tubes don’t have to be discarded just because a small part has become damaged. They’re no longer usable for bicycle wheels, but that doesn’t mean they need to meet the end of their material life as well. More economical and efficient than recycling, the upcycling mentality has taken root with many designers, and this line of TOOB accessories demonstrates how even something as simple and unattractive as an inner tube can become a useful and even stylish product.

“Useless” bicycle inner tubes are handpicked from Tel Aviv’s local shops and are then inspected and thoroughly cleaned. Depending on how much damage it has, the useful parts are cut off and then transformed into completely different products. The TOOB Keychains, for example, only need a small part of the inner tube. In addition to the material’s natural durability, TOOB adds a strong button that makes it easy to open and close the keychain to look around belts and bags. The TOOB Strap, in contrast, requires a longer stretch of inner tubing. The accessory takes advantage of the tube’s natural stretchy properties to hold things down onto bike rails or other surfaces.

Inner tubes make the perfect material for this kind of heavy-duty accessory, and their clean appearance and smooth surfaces make for a nondescript aesthetic. The keychain, for example, looks discrete, and its black color blends with almost any pair of jeans or bag. TOOB also supports the local bicycle economy by giving shop owners a better way to dispose of their waste.

Inner tubes don’t last forever, though, and TOOB does admit that the material will eventually wear out and dry. Then again, almost everything does eventually, including materials like leather. Ideas like TOOB don’t completely remove synthetic rubber products like tires and tubing from the picture, but it helps delay their inevitable fate in landfills, at least until we can figure out how better and more sustainable alternatives.

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What are sustainable phones and how are they saving the planet

Smartphones have become one of the biggest dangers to our environment, but they also offer the chance to make the biggest positive impact as well.

When Nokia started flooding the world with its polycarbonate phones more than two decades ago, few probably imagined that there would come a time when those would be eclipsed by something more numerous. Today, Nokia is almost a footnote in mobile history, and smartphone shipments number hundreds of millions, not every year but every quarter. People also switch phones at a faster rate than ever before, especially when companies have programs and strategies in place to encourage such a rapid turnover. Unfortunately, the fast-paced development and sales of these consumer electronics have a rather massive cost, not just for people but also for the planet. Billions of smartphones are shipped each year, and thousands if not millions end up unused or, worse, improperly discarded. Given their large numbers and ubiquity, smartphones have an equally large yet negative impact on our environment. Fortunately, the trends are shifting for the better, even if slowly and in small, incremental steps.

Thinking Outside the Box

There have been many attempts to raise awareness about the negative impacts of the smartphone industry on our environment, but, as always, it was Apple that really got people talking. Some saw it as just a cunning strategy to actually get people to buy its own chargers, but Apple’s official statement for removing the charger in iPhone boxes is for a greener economy. Not everyone bought that reason, of course, and it remains to be seen whether it actually makes a positive difference in the long run. The fact remains that Apple’s actions started discussions and, more importantly, changes in the industry.

Designer: Apple

After ridiculing Apple, Samsung unsurprisingly followed suit and made charging bricks absent from some of its phones. While other manufacturers didn’t make such drastic steps, they did acknowledge the impact smartphones and packaging have on the environment. Following Apple’s lead again, many started shrinking their packaging to reduce the number of resources they use. They also started advertising the use of more sustainable materials, reducing their reliance on plastic.

Designer: realme

It might be easy to downplay such small changes, but when you consider how many smartphone boxes are made each year, the number all add up. Fewer new paper that gets produced for these boxes means fewer trees cut down in the long run. Fewer plastics used mean fewer plastics produced every time. Just as how pollution changed our environment little by little, more responsible use of resources, no matter how small, will also help slow down our planet’s death. The question now is whether removing chargers from boxes actually does what they’re supposed to and not simply forces people to buy chargers separately instead. Unfortunately, we won’t really get a complete picture until after a few years.

Recycling, Upcycling

Sooner or later, all smartphones reach the end of their usefulness. Either they no longer work completely, or they can no longer meet the needs and demands of owners. The phone might have a few broken parts that can no longer be repaired, or its aging processor can no longer keep up with modern apps and services. Sometimes, people just want to upgrade to a newer phone with better hardware or features. Whatever the reason may be, it’s curtains for the old phone.

More enterprising people might find a way to still profit from an old phone by selling it if it’s still possible. Sadly, most people that don’t have access to trade-in or similar programs either just stash their phones somewhere and lose them forever or throw them away indiscriminately. The latter results in non-biodegradable materials and harmful chemicals ending up in landfills, further perpetuating the death of our planet.

Recycling is often the very first solution that comes to our minds, but it’s no panacea. Not all materials that make up a smartphone can actually be recycled. Additionally, recycling actually takes up a lot of energy and resources as well, potentially making the benefits moot. For phones that actually still work to some extent, there is another solution that isn’t just more economical but also more beneficial to other people.

Upcycling is becoming a new trend in the design world, and some manufacturers have started adopting it as well. Samsung, in particular, has started promoting its upcycling efforts as part of its overall sustainability mission. In a nutshell, upcycling means reusing a product, either in whole or in parts, for a different purpose. It doesn’t require breaking down materials first, and components are used as-is. This can be as simple as repurposing a phone or tablet as a baby monitor or security camera, or it can be as complicated as using the working parts of a phone as ingredients for something else. Even a five-year-old smartphone has enough processing power for other tasks, and being able to reprogram that phone to do other things goes a long way in delaying its eventual fate in landfills.

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Designer: Samsung

Fair Play

The negative environmental and even socio-political impact of smartphones don’t just happen at the end of its life. Even before it’s assembled, the raw materials that go into a smartphone’s production already cause concern and, in some cases, even conflict. Rare-earth metals, in particular, are notorious for how and where they are sourced. Some materials aren’t just harmful to the environment but also to the people involved in producing them.

Companies are more cautious about this, but mostly because of the political implications of these “conflict materials.” Not all manufacturers and suppliers, however, have the resources or the drive to put their supply chains under a microscope, and some do slip through the cracks. Unless corporations and governments really work hard together, the supply of these materials will eventually be so constrained that it could cripple the economy as a whole.

A few bold manufacturers like Fairphone have made responsible sourcing a major part of its DNA alongside repairability. By advocating closed-pipe supply chains, it is able to help reduce both the environmental as well as the human costs of making smartphones. It’s almost too easy to take for granted the amount of copper, tin, and even gold that goes into a smartphone, but as with anything that has a long-term impact, those little problems eventually become a massive, unmovable whole.

Designer: Fairphone

Conscientious Design

Of course, a major reason for the massive negative impact that smartphones have on the environment is because of the materials used in their creation. Even phones with glass rears and metal frames still have plenty of plastic to go around. Even the glass itself can have harmful materials that prevent it from being recycled effectively. There’s also the matter of toxic chemicals used in producing some parts of phones, as well as the carbon emissions from factories making them. It’s too late for the world to go cold turkey on smartphones, of course, so our only recourse now is to minimize the damage that they do.

Fortunately, smartphone companies have started becoming more aware of the responsibility and blame that they no bear on their shoulders. Big companies like Samsung can only move little by little towards more sustainable materials without completely destroying the supply chain economy. This year’s flagship phones, for example, boast plastics that were made from recycled fish nets that would have otherwise polluted the seas and killed marine life.

Designer: Samsung

Other brands like realme have embarked on a journey that puts innovative new materials into daring designs. This year’s Realme GT2 Paper Edition, for example, uses a biopolymer material for its body, creating a design that not only looks and feels like paper but is also similarly sustainable. Admittedly, it is just one in a sea of unsustainable phones, but it is also a big part of realme’s grand strategy to become a more responsible company and a good role model for its young customers.

Designer: Naoto Fukasawa for realme

As a smaller company, Fairphone is able to take big risks and make sweeping changes that put sustainability as its core purpose and business. From responsible sourcing to sustainable materials to repairable devices, it is able to build a relatively profitable business that doesn’t contribute to the demise of our little blue planet. Unfortunately, its size almost makes it a “small fish” swimming with whales and sharks, but its continued existence offers proof that it can be done as long as one is truly committed to the cause.

Designer: Fairphone

Right to Repair

Once upon a time, it seemed that phones could last forever. They may have plastic bodies, but they don’t break or crack on their first fall. Batteries bloat or die, but replacing them is a snap. Those days are long gone, of course, and smartphone makers have gone over and beyond to protect their intellectual properties and reputations, even if it meant making it harder for owners to replace a dead battery in the middle of the day. Repairing phones have become its own industry, with the big companies holding the reins. Things are changing for the better, though, and those big companies are leading the charge.

Not everyone has the knowledge or skill to repair their own phones, of course, and it’s hardly advisable to do so. But by opening up repairs to third parties, phone manufacturers are effectively giving smaller repair shops room to thrive. Of course, the companies still hold the keys, providing official components to replace broken ones. Considering how restrictive the previous conditions were, it’s still a major win for the smartphone industry as a whole.

It also means that it will be easier and cheaper to get phones repaired, which means people will be able to hold on to their phones longer. Just like with upcycling, it helps delay the inevitable end of these devices and the impact of their components on the environment. People have now grown past the trend of changing phones just to get the latest and greatest. The global economic situation has changed drastically in the past years, forcing consumers to rethink their phone-buying habits. Given how phone upgrades have also slowed down lately, more people have finally found it wiser to keep their phones as long as they’re still serviceable.

This shouldn’t be the end of the story, though. While the doors to self-repair have been opened slightly, it’s still not enough because of the technical hurdles. In the future, we will hopefully have modular phones where we can swap out parts on the fly and preserve their functions for years to come. That, however, also requires changing current business models, which is why it’s unlikely to happen anytime soon.

Designer: Apple, Samsung, Google

Software is Hard

Keeping a phone running smoothly helps not only preserve its life but also prevent it from doing harm to the environment at the end of that life. Sadly, many phones, especially on the Android side, don’t last that long as far as software is concerned. For arbitrary reasons, manufacturers once decided that two years is enough to keep a smartphone supported with software updates. At long last, they’re finally realizing how unreasonable and unfair that arrangement is.

Apple has always been the shining example of supporting its products with software updates, but it admittedly has an unfair advantage. It has almost full control of both hardware and software, so it’s easier for it to do its own thing and even demand that carriers fall in line. The open ecosystem of Android has made that more difficult to accomplish, but it isn’t impossible. Fortunately, Google and its partners are getting their acts together and providing longer support for their devices.

Admittedly, a phone will continue working long after it receives the last software update. In some cases, apps might even continue working for years on older versions of Android or iOS. When a manufacturer officially ends its support for a particular model, however, it creates a sense of abandonment that makes it feel like the phone has now become obsolete and potentially unusable. That, in turn, generates a desire to buy a new phone, even if the current one is objectively still fine. Repeat that process over and over again, and you’ll get discarded phones piling up, slowly but surely poisoning our planet.

Small Steps, Big Ripples

The smartphone industry as a whole seems to be built to be unsustainable. Smartphones are designed like heavily-locked castles, making sure no one other than royalty can gain access inside. Like many consumer products, the marketing pushes people to buy newer ones, even when they don’t really need to yet. Business models don’t encourage or reward people for keeping their old phones longer and instead motivate them to upgrade immediately by throwing in discounts and trade-ins. This kind of culture and mentality only serves to create more wasted resources and more electronic waste, pushing our planet to the brink of death.

Fortunately, the very same large corporations that drive this industry are seeing their responsibility in helping keep the planet alive. After all, their businesses will also fall if there won’t be enough people to buy their products anymore. They’ve started to take small but important steps towards reforming the smartphone industry to be a little bit more environmentally conscious. Whether they’re just riding the trend or really believe in the cause is a different question, and it will be up to consumers to make sure they keep in line and deliver on their sustainability promises.

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