10 tips on how to protect the environment with sustainable cell phone use
Sustainability in everyday life doesn’t have to be complicated. For example, you can help protect the environment by using your cell phone in an environmentally friendly way. Find out exactly how you can do this here.
What does my cell phone use have to do with the environment?
Put simply, every time you use electricity, it produces CO2 that is emitted into the air. Nothing bad really, except that we have far too much carbon dioxide in our atmosphere at the moment and this has many negative consequences for our nature, such as global warming.
Your smartphone produces CO2 in many different ways. On the one hand in the production itself, since this requires a lot of energy. On the other hand, through your use. Especially through the apps. Take a Google search query, for example: the information you enter is sent to the data centers, where it is processed in the gigantic database and the result is then sent back to the cell phone. To manage the enormous databases and provide results in the shortest possible time, the data centers have to be extremely powerful. And that requires electricity – a lot of it, in fact. This electricity leads to the production of CO2. The same is true for every Instagram post, Youtube video streaming and many other app uses.
IT companies themselves can do a lot to protect the environment. For example, they can build energy-saving data centers or use electricity from renewable sources. Manufacturing new products that can be recycled is another idea. There are many possibilities, but that is up to the companies. But you as a user can also protect the environment with the right cell phone usage.
Here’s how you can help the environment with your cell phone
1. Use your cell phone as long as possible
Every single smartphone produces a total of 47 kg of CO2. The goal is therefore to keep your cell phone functional as long as possible, so that you use as few smartphones as possible. The best way to do this is to buy the right equipment right from the start: protective films prevent display scratches and increase break resistance. Protective bumper covers also make sense.
2 Save your battery
Proper battery charging extends the life of your smartphone. We have already published a comprehensive article on saving battery power. You can find the most important takeaways summarised here:
Constantly charge the battery between 20% and 80%.
- Never discharge the battery completely
- Do not charge overnight
- Do not charge too short (5 minutes)
- Switch on flight mode when charging
- Use the manufacturer’s charging cable
3. Repair your cell phone instead of throwing it away
A cracked display doesn’t always have to mean the end. Check the warranty period of your smartphone. Did you know that many manufacturers even cover repairs for the first two years? You can also solve many problems yourself, for example, by watching YouTube tutorials.
4 Give away your old smartphone
Swisscom estimates that around 8 million old cell phones are lying around in Swiss drawers. These phones, or at least their raw materials, could be put to good use. For example, you could give away your old, still functioning device. The broken cell phone, on the other hand, can often be returned to the dealer or taken to a collection point so that it can be properly recycled.
5. Donate your cell phone
Numerous aid organizations in Switzerland are happy to receive your cell phone donation. For example, the SOS Children’s Village: as part of the Swisscom Mobile Aid campaign, devices that are still in working order are refurbished, while defective ones have their valuable metals removed. All this happens in Switzerland and any proceeds go to the SOS Children’s Village.
6. Sell your smartphone
Don’t just let your phone gather dust in drawers if it still works. Sell it! Not only will you be doing something good for the environment, but also for your wallet. In Switzerland, there are various platforms where you can easily sell your old device. For example here:
7. Save electricity with your cell phone
There are many ways to use less power in your cell phone usage and thus produce less CO2:
- Unplug the charger from the wall socket after charging.
- Only use your smartphone when you really need to. So ask yourself: What activities can take place without the smartphone?
- Turn off the device at night.
- Use system functions and apps for energy management.
- Manually turn off applications that are not needed: Bluetooth, GPS, UMTS, etc.
8. Buy so-called fairphones
Manufacturers such as Fairphone or Shiftphone produce their phones from components that are all obtained and used as fairly as possible. Their sustainability refers to both working conditions and environmental impact. The idea behind this is to have an easy-to-repair phone with replaceable modules. This should then last as long as possible. The only downside is that you have to sacrifice performance according to the latest standards.
9. Apps for a more sustainable lifestyle
You would like to live more sustainably, but don’t know how to implement this in your everyday life? These smartphone apps can help you do just that:
- Oroeco: This app takes a close look at your carbon footprint and then shows you how you can reduce it.
- Codecheck: With this app, you can scan the barcodes to check what’s inside and how sustainable the ingredients are.
- Ecosia: A search engine that makes your online searches sustainable: After every 45th search query, a tree is planted.
10. Shop at alao
For every order placed at alao, we plant ten trees together with growmytree.com! The goal is to create a forest of 10,000 trees. With these ten trees you not only compensate the CO2 footprint of your cell phone. You will also help poor communities in the global south, who will not only get food but also work opportunities through the forest. So take a look at our subscription finder and order your perfect cell phone subscription today. And even if your contract is still running: We will cancel your old contract on time and take your phone number with you free of charge. You only pay when the contract is activated. This article was published on 25 January 2022 and updated on 25 November 2024.
