Around 1.8 billion cell phones were sold worldwide in 2019 alone, including a large proportion of smartphones. The large number can also be explained by the fact that many devices are replaced quickly. New devices attract with better performance and are easy to get because of the mobile phone contracts customary. On the other hand, old devices can usually not be upgraded and repaired only with difficulty. But production pollutes the environment, and working conditions are often poor. The first manufacturers are trying to produce “fair” devices.
Jailbreak download: How “unfair” can a smartphone be?
The smartphone is a constant companion for many people. Young people in particular often state that they can hardly imagine life without a mobile phone jailbreak download. Most already have their own device as a child. Three out of four ten-year-olds have their own smartphone.
The product generations change very quickly. Technical development is progressing very quickly. Many users especially young people often only keep their smartphones for a year or two before deciding on another, mostly technically more sophisticated model.
But the manufacture of smartphones has far-reaching effects on people and nature. Valuable raw materials are required for the products. These include metals such as iron, copper, aluminum, nickel and zinc as well as other substances such as indium, tantalum and gold.
The extraction of metals is often associated with a very high impact on the environment. Gold, for example, causes many times more greenhouse gas emissions than steel, which essentially contains iron.
In addition, some of the raw materials are extracted under problematic circumstances.
What can go wrong with cell phone disposal? Jailbreak download
Valuable resources are required to manufacture smartphones, but the devices are not used for that long. They are often replaced early on, even though they are still functional. The reason is that many consumers want more up-to-date devices.
The continued use of the replaced devices is then of decisive importance in how this affects the environment. There are already initiatives and platforms for reusing used devices. They should be used to reduce the impact on the environment.
The proper disposal of old electrical appliances is therefore of particular importance. The devices can be handed in at the local recycling center free of charge. Large electrical retailers are also obliged to take back small electrical appliances free of charge. This also applies if a new device is not purchased at the same time.
It’s such a thing with sustainability. Actually, everyone agrees that more ecological and social sustainability is needed in order to find appropriate answers to challenges such as climate change, scarcity of resources, globalization, population growth or automation. On the other hand, as soon as you are concerned, you find it difficult to live more consistently sustainably when the latest technology feature is being advertised like ipad vs kindle.
IPad vs kindle: Sustainability in the education system
In addition to this private side, the question of sustainability in the education system is a little different. This is about the question of how sustainable learning processes work. At this point, you may be concerned with the ecological and social sustainability goals that the education system is committed to and how these are compatible with the digital education that is required everywhere.
Many politicians, IT industry representatives, teachers, school principals and media educators agree across the board that schools need to be better equipped technically. They say that fast Wi-Fi is needed, the most up-to-date devices possible, ideally as 1: 1 class sets and projectors in the classrooms. Otherwise, the students may not be able to acquire the skills that they would need in a digitized world. IPads, tablets and notebooks are bought in rows and classrooms are equipped with projectors and whiteboards. The price is an important if not the most important selection criterion, which is why all well-known device manufacturers offer inexpensive products designed for schools.
IPad vs kindle: Ecological footprint and the production conditions of digital education
In this digital hype, questions about the ecological and social sustainability of the purchased devices are far too seldom asked. Of course, they should last a long time and be robust, so that they still function reasonably well even after two years of children’s hands – most will certainly agree on that. But what about the repairability of the devices? How big are the emissions during production, how toxic are the components and how sustainably are the necessary resources extracted? What about recycling? What are the working conditions like in the globally distributed production facilities?
These are all very uncomfortable moral questions, after all, it would be much easier to fade them out and just enjoy them if a school even manages to go a bit with digitization. The schools and also the individual teachers who use the devices in the classroom need answers to these far-reaching questions if only for moral reasons.