Apple introduced its iPhone 14 models just last year. ©AP Photo/Jeff ChiuApple will launch its latest iPhone today (September 12) during an online presentation at 7pm CEST.
Millions of new iPhone 15s will then make their way to eager customers, with the release date set for September 22nd.
Its new and improved features include a USB-C port below, after the European Union made universal charging port mandatory to reduce electronic waste.
But trading in your old smartphone for the latest model is the worst thing you could do. According to Apple’s metrics,79 percent of the phone’s life cycle carbon emissions are released during production.
Resisting the temptation to own the latest iPhone won’t reverse emissions from products hitting shelves next week, but it will help limit their number. telephones will be implemented in the future.
Tired of buying a new phone every two years? Fairphones last for years and do not exploit miners
‘We’re part of the problem’: How H&M, Mango and Zara are trying to clean up their act
With around 211 million As for the smartphones sold each year in the EU, each of which lasts an average of three years before being replaced, combating the forces of “planned obsolescence” is crucial.
Apple had already been fined 10 million euros by Italy’s antitrust regulator after finding that the company’s software updates “cause serious disruptions” and siphon off more power without warning. This pushed people to buy new phones, although Apple denied this was its intention.
According to a recent study, approximately 53.6 million tons of e-waste are generated every year. Unsplash/Neil SoniIs Apple becoming more sustainable?
Much of the CO2 emissions released when creating a new smartphone come from extracting the rare materials within them. Second a relationship“buying a new phone requires as much energy as it takes to charge and run a smartphone for an entire decade.”
But Applethe world’s largest technology company, has been trying to clean up its act on this and other environmental fronts.
It claims to use 100% recycled rare earth elements in all iPhone 14 magnets, which accounts for almost all of the total rare earth elements in the device.
In 2019 Apple, together with GoogleDell, Microsoft and Teslawas named as a defendant in a lawsuit filed on behalf of families in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) whose children were injured and killed during cobalt mining.
People separate cobalt from sand and rocks in a lake near a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, 2015.FEDERICO SCOPPA/AFPThe companies deny using child labor, claiming they do not own cobalt mines, nor can they identify the exact source of the materials they use. And a U.S. District Court judge dismissed the lawsuit against them in 2021.
But last year new questions were raised by the NGO Global Witness, with one investigation suggesting that Apple, Nokia and Samsung rely on a supply chain due diligence scheme used to launder conflict minerals from the DRC.
Apple says it is “committed to establishing the highest standards of responsible sourcing for the materials used in our products,” in its latest environmental advancement relationship.
In 2020 he announced his intention to become one entirely zero emissions by 2030, spanning all aspects from the manufacturing supply chain to the product life cycle.
Blade runner: This new project uses drones to check for damage to wind turbines
In pictures: South America’s “lithium deposits” reveal the dark side of our electric future
Sustainable alternatives to the iPhone
The new iPhone 14s were on display at an Apple event at its headquarters in California. Jeff Chiu/APGiven the ubiquity of smartphones and their various apps in our lives, it’s difficult to know what the alternatives to constantly updating are.
However, one phone surpasses the others in almost all important parameters.
Fairphonelaunched by a Dutch social enterprise 10 years ago, it is leading the way in supply chain transparency, with the company identifying which manufacturers, smelters and refiners have shaped its aptly named devices.
Fairphone tops the ethics rankings of the UK’s leading alternative consumer organisation, the Ethical Consumer, who also praises the company for including a screwdriver tool, which allows consumers to replace any broken parts. A far cry from Apple’s sealed technology.
Of course, buying second-hand is also preferable, and recycling your phone when you’re actually done with it is an important step in the process.
Going back to the basics a “feature phone” could also be an option, especially if you get all your smart needs from a laptop or computer, and so you can avoid doubling your power consumption.
