Sustainable Tech

a close-up of a green circuit board

New companies are building technology like mobile phones and laptops with sustainability, recycling, reuse, repair and low emissions built-in.

Fairphone produce Android-based mobile phones. I have one and have replaced the camera myself, amazingly.

Framework a US company create a massively repairable 13″ laptop and are just about to roll out a 16″ version.

The framework laptops have repair costs that are literally a fifth to a tenth of the cost of similar repairs to an Apple Mac Book.

Unfortunately and typically the companies have not replied yet to my enquiry about the carbon footprints of their products, except Apple, whose new iPhone 14 Max causes 124 kg CO2e per item – which is not so bad – probably only a hundredth of an average UK citizen’s carbon footprint – and in fact relatively good for a mobile. Their 16″ Macbook causes 300 kg.

Fairphone though lead the way in conflict-free minerals – they buy direct from co-operatively run mining operations rather than anonymous metals on the international market.

More Resources

Laptops reviewed by a sustainability blogger

Apple products

Which? Can a laptop be truly eco-friendly?

Author

  • Adam Hardy

    Zoologist at heart. Environmentalist by necessity. Stage hand, financial trader, secretary, card payments designer, software developer, fossil fuel big data warehouse consultant. Amateur psychologist. Now climate change salvage engineer.

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By Adam Hardy

Zoologist at heart. Environmentalist by necessity. Stage hand, financial trader, secretary, card payments designer, software developer, fossil fuel big data warehouse consultant. Amateur psychologist. Now climate change salvage engineer.

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