I can remember when I got my first cell phone, though I’m not solid about the year. It was sometime in the late 1990s, as I worked for the library. A few of us in administration were issued these phones. At that time, these “types” of cellular phones also served as walkie-talkies, so, with a press of a button, we could be in touch with anyone on the staff, anytime, anywhere. The brand was Nextel.
It was simple enough to use as a walkie-talkie. But we didn’t know much about them as actual phones for calling people. At any rate, I can remember saying that these new things were a “pain in the butt.”
Not many people had cell phones then or knew much about them.
Well. We’ve come a long way, baby.
These days, my phone is always in my pocket, hence the baggy pants. I use it so many times each day that it would be hard to count. I don’t actually talk to people on the phone, as phone chatting isn’t my favorite thing. But I check email, make notes, keep a grocery list, a house “to-do” list, text people, check word definitions and pronunciations, use the address book, play occasional games, and on and on. You know the drift. The weather. The calculator. The magnifier. Oh, the joys.
And apparently, I am not alone. According to several sources, about 6.8 billion smartphones are in use today. That means 83.32% of the world’s population owns a smartphone. This number has risen dramatically in the past five years.
But here is the thing. We all know the phrase, “nothing lasts forever.”
Well, that is especially true with the smartphone, as even if our phones might be perfectly good, the manufacturers are constantly coming out with new and better technology.
As a result? A staggering number are discarded every year. We are talking about 5.3 billion cell phones that will become waste in 2022 alone.
Yes, those five billion phones will likely be discarded or stashed away. If we stacked them flat on top of each other, that many disused phones would rise 30,000 miles. That adds up to be more than a hundred times higher than the International Space Station.
There is a group called the WEEE Forum. They are the world’s largest multi-national center in regards to know-how concerning the management of “Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment — WEEE.
They are trying to convince people worldwide to start recycling their phones.
Smartphones contain valuable gold, copper, silver, palladium, and other recyclable components. Despite that, almost all these no-more phones will be hoarded, dumped, or incinerated, causing significant health and environmental harm.
Some people just throw them away. Others keep them as backups or in hopes of selling them one day. Some people even keep them for sentimental reasons. And other people never throw anything away. The hoarders.
Regardless of the cause, the old cell phones are adding up to dangerous planetary waste. Unfortunately, they are just the tip of the iceberg regarding wasted electronics. Most people keep / hoard / throw away up to nine pounds of electronic devices yearly.
It is just another thing we don’t think about on this big blue ball of ours. So many people won’t even bother to recycle an aluminum can, saying, “It doesn’t do any good.” I’ve heard people say it a lot. Right here at my own house, where we try to recycle everything.
But if we all tried a little, each and every day, it would add up to a whole big bunch. Because there’s a big bunch of us here — 8 billion — sharing this ball called Earth.
Yet. Some people share better than others, it seems.
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“Earth’s crammed with heaven…
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes.”
― Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Aurora Leigh
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“Western civilization is a loaded gun pointed at the head of this planet.”
― Terence McKenna
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“Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.”
― Jacques-Yves Cousteau
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The phone. What a waste.
