Phones are getting more essential every day. To keep up with the growing demand of smartphone use, companies are constantly updating their phones to the next generation. As users, upgrading our phones frequently can feel like a necessity to keep up with technological advancements. This causes consumers to throw away their old devices because they are now considered to be "outdated."

Buying and upgrading phones result in unnecessary electronic waste that piles up in landfills. There are rare metals and high-end materials that are tossed away when a new phone is sold. “Approximately 57.4 million metric tons of e-waste was generated worldwide in 2021,” said Samantha Vesey, Chief Sustainability Officer at a top resell company. That is equivalent to roughly 400 billion iPhones!

There are two main reasons people get new phones and throw away their old ones. Both reasons are minimized by the growing after-market phone industry.

Upgrades, upgrades, upgrades: Consumers want the best and brightest new phone. A new phone means a better camera, a faster software system, and a smoother interface that can make their lives much easier.
Scratches, scuffs, and slowness: Phones come with you through life getting beaten up and scratched. Scratched phones are never fun. Phones that have become slower since they were bought can put the breaks on life, and with our fast-paced society we do not have room for scratches or the inconvenience of "slow.”

Both are valid reasons to switch and upgrade a phone…but they don’t need to be. The phone repair industry is growing and becoming more prevalent. Scratches, scuffs, broken cameras, and lag in the software all can be fixed. Here are three main ways the after-market phone industry helps reduce the amount of e-waste we produce:

Local Repair Shops: Repair businesses are emerging in your local areas to help remedy phone issues at low cost and reduce the footprint of electronics on the Earth.
Instructional Videos: In addition to local repair shops in your area, many YouTube videos teach you how to repair your electronics in the comfort of your home. They teach a wide range from the technical skills of micro-soldering to a simple way to remove phone scratches. One of our favorite channels is The Art of Repair from an expert in the repair space, Justin Ashford, who gives advice and insight into the repair space.
Resale: Resale has become more popular throughout the years. Selling your used phones to others or to secondary companies puts a little bit of money back in your pocket and recycles that phone back into the market.

Scratched phone screens, lagging software, and broken cameras do not have to be the reason you contribute to the fast-growing e-waste landfills. Local repair shops, instructional videos, and resale are helping keep the Earth green longer and maybe it'll even put a little money in your pocket.

Check out the Art of Repair YouTube page: click here

Take a look at the Primo Polishing System and how it removes phone scratches in less than 10 minutes: click here

See what our partners are up to at Replace Base

E-Waste and How to Help

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