Friday, September 11, 2009
Before you rush out to buy that new green phone…
After reading last week’s post I felt like it was contributing to the notion of perceived obsolescence. Remember that perceived obsolescence is the idea that advertisers (or blog postings) make you feel like you need to replace a product to get the latest and greatest version, even if your current product is still working great. Clothing styles are a great example. Cell phones are perhaps my favorite example of perceived obsolescence. If you’re current phone is still in working condition, running out to buy a new one, even a “green” one will have a greater negative ecological impact than hanging on to your current phone. The E-waste associated with disposing of your old phone is a topic too large for this posting. On the production side of replacing your phone (even with a green phone) energy, greenhouse gas emissions, packaging, etc. have to be considered. My intention here is to point out some potentially greener options for you if your phone truly does become obsolete. Next week I’ll take a closer look at the bioplastics that are making many of our new products. Are they as green as we think?
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When I first saw the “green” phone, I had no intention to buy it. I already had a phone that looked exactly like it (Motorola QA30), which I sold to another person, since I had got a new phone. I think many people should sell OR RECYCLE their old phones, instead of throwing it away. My manager (who works at McDonald’s) had gone through at least 3 phones in the past 6 months, and she given her old phones for her little sisters to play with, since they were ruined. She had spent more than $500 on the one she has now, which she bought unlocked. (That’s insane o . O)
ReplyDeleteI think that people just have an impulse to get these new things, maybe because it doesn’t fit their needs or they just have disposable income. Maybe cell phones just fit into ours, the Americans, lifestyle. We are always so busy and constantly on the move. We don’t find time for the things that are more important, things that aren’t material. People fall in love with material things all the time, like money. It makes us feel like we have something that makes us important.
Just this past week, my cell phone company sent my family a catalog and told us to upgrade our phones for new ones. Apparently, our plan forces us to upgrade to a new phone after a certain period of time. I think this was mentioned in class on the day we discussed the green phone. If I could stick with my current phone I would but pretty soon it will not be working. Theirs the planned obsolescence and how convenient that my phone company gives me the option of ‘upgrading’ right around the same time my old phone starts breaking down. I’m sure the green phone was built based on planned obsolescence too, but if everyone were to buy one and recycle them like they are meant to, it would still save a lot of energy and materials. The amount saved would only increase as years went on. I’m sure that the company that put the green phone out will continue redesigning it with more recycling capabilities. That’s to say that a lot of people buy them.
ReplyDeleteBuying a new phone just because you can, even if it is the "green" phone, isn't going to solve any problems. But like Tyler said the phone companies make you upgrade even if you don't really need a new phone. So these companies do plan the obsolescence of phones, that way they can make more money. I personally wasn’t going to just go out and buy this new phone because there is nothing wrong with the one I currently have. On the production side of producing a new phone really isn’t any more environmentally friendly than any other phone. It will still use the energy and packaging. It will also still have the same greenhouse gas emissions. But in the end it will be better because once it gets thrown away then I will decompose. So, if my phone company decided to make me upgrade my phone then going out to buy the “green” phone could be a smart choice in the end.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I would like to add that what we do as a society isn't "green." We took nature and we tamed her. Electricity is part of nature, but we took it, studied it, and developed powerlines. Even a fourth of the periodic table was created by humans D:! I mean, it would take atleast a human (on average) 4-5 earths just to live...compared to "third world" countries, who only takes up 1 earth...
ReplyDeleteWhen I heard about the new "green" phone I thought it was a pretty neat idea but then I got to thinking about it and if people just go out and buy this new phone just because its "green" and its new and its cool then really they arent doing the enviornment any good because they are going to have to dispose of there "old" phone. Plus I just read another blog that said, "It's estimated that there are over 130 million cell phones retired in the U.S.? " Well that is a lot and if everyone just throws their phone out to go buy this new sleek "green" phone then really they are doing more harm to the environment than good because of all the packaging and disposing of old phones.
ReplyDeleteThis past weekend I met a lady that was all big on saving the environment and she showed me she had this new phone and I mentioned to her that its a cool phone but its not being enviornmental friendly since she just threw away her old one and she said I had a good point.
Im just saying, If you want the new phone so you can help go "green" just think about it first and try and hold off until you HAVE to upgrade or try and doing something useful with your phone like giving it to someone who doesnt have one.
I agree with Lauren. Everyone seeing this new green phone and going out to buy it just becasue it is enviromentally friendly is not going to solve any of our problems. The green phone is a great option for someone who has never had a phone before or someone whos phone has stopped working and are forced to buy a new one. It is terrible that so many companies now are forcing people to upgrade and buy new phones. Don't just trash your old phones because you could get the latest and greatest new phone. And I believe that so many companies plan the obsolescence of phones to make more money. So many phones today are made cheap enough to where they break but good enough to where people keep buying more. I have had the lg envy 2 since january and in that period of about 8 months I have gone through 4 envy 2s. It is all planned obsolescence. So if you want to go green, wait until you absolutely need a new phone before you go out and buy a green phone.
ReplyDelete~Courtney
When i heard about the green phone i also thought that it was a great idea.I am the type of person when i see something that is better and newer i lean towards buying it. I wouldn't just trash my old phones i would give them to someone or keep them for future needings. I hate how companies make phones not too good of condition and not too bad of condition to where eventually they will break. When it breaks you have to go out and spend more money on the same phone you just had because of contracts. This is how most companies make their money. It's wrong but most people fall for it. So if you want to get the new green phone you should probably wait until your contract you have now on your phone runs out or switch to a different phone company to get the green phone.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tyler completely, as long as there is money to be made, corporations will make it. We can't go on just thinking that they might care because in reality they probably don't care for us or the enviornment as we do about sprawl. Just a thought, why care when it only helps you lose a fare?
ReplyDeleteThe new green phone is a good idea like I already said, but like you said going out and buying it right now and trashing the other is not too eco friendly! Thinking about this solving our environment problems it really isn’t going to at all at this moment in time. Maybe at a later date when people actually are having to get rid of their old phones and buy new ones. This would save people from throwing away the ones they have now into our ground. Not saying that this wasn’t a good idea at all because it was. And I truly believe that at a certain time this phone will have made a difference in the environment and people will stop buying phones that aren’t made by recyclables. Being able to recycle something that has for a long time been thrown in to are ground is going to make a huge difference no matter if it takes a while to work.
ReplyDeleteWhen I read about the new green phone I immediatley wanted to go out and get it. Yes, I realize that my phone is still in working condition, but if everyone would replace their phones with a recyclable one wouldn't we be doing the earth a favor. Because either way all the non recyclable phones people have are going to stop working so they will eventually have to sit in landfills anyway. They could make phones that could use our phones that we recycled and make phones out of all of ours.
ReplyDeletei agree with Nou Chang that people should recycle their phones when they are done with them. There is no reason to keep your phone when it doesn't work so why not recycle it? i also agree with Tommy because when your phone does break you have to go out and spend a lot of money when my personal opinion is you should get it for less money unless the malfunction is on you. kari
ReplyDelete