Considering the environmental impact of the iPhone
Apple has continued to do badly in Greenpeace's latest eco-charts so the news that they might be blamed for the environmental impact of people ditching their old mobiles for an iPhone might seem a little worrying.
PSFK raises some interesting issues but none that are exclusive to Apple, and which might seem a little unfair.
The mobile phone industry's environmental record is criticised, not only because of the materials used in the manufacture of handsets, but also because there's a strong incentive for contract customers to replace their handsets every year. Mobile phones, therefore, are rarely made to be upgraded, merely replaced.
We know very little about the iPhone's green credentials - how green it is and what energy is required to charge it - but I can't imagine it's much worse than other smartphones.
A bigger problem, I would suggest, is people who leave their mobile phone chargers plugged in to the mains electricity when not in use. The iPhone may be chargeable via a PC's USB connection, which could be argued as more energy efficient than using a standalone transformer that wastes electricity as the phone only requires a low charging level.
Finally:
When the iPhone launched, a lot of people will be dumping their phone for it. Where will their old phones go? And will Apple provide a solution?
There are plenty of schemes for recycling old mobile phones, some of which have the added social benefit of donating money to charity. This isn't Apple's problem - it is down to the consumer to responsibly recycle their old mobile phone, just as they would if they were buying or upgrading to the latest Nokia, Samsung, or Sony Ericcson. Given Apple's expected initial market share, they're not even the biggest player, and they surely can't be held responsible for how people dispose of an old phone.
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