How Late Model Smartphones Are Saving the Planet

“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”Sometimes, we’re left to wonder whether the little changes we make in our individual lives are actually having any real impact at all. Does it really make that much of a difference if I bring my own reusable cup to the local coffee shop? If I opt for online billing instead of receiving a paper bill in the mail, does that really make any difference at all? The truth, as you might imagine, is that many small changes enacted by many people add up to a really big impact. We all have to pitch in.

And this absolutely concerns our increasingly digital lifestyle and our fascination with modern technology. It would be completely unreasonable for all of us to abandon modern technology altogether, living off the land in the middle of the woods somewhere. We want our cameras and smart speakers and all the rest of it; we just have to be more intentional about how we choose to buy, use, and ultimately discard these types of products.

You might recall that we discussed where your recycled phone actually goes last month. In this way, while recycling your old phone is certainly better than tossing it in the trash, it’s even better if we can recover late model smartphones and breathe new life into them. As tempted as you may be to pick up a new device every couple of years, that “old” phone is still perfectly usable, by you or by someone else.

You can be on the receiving end of this too. Buying a used late model smartphone is a far more economical choice than buying the latest flagship, and it’s a much better decision for the environment too. By choosing to pick up a refurbished phone, you’re doing your small part in saving the planet because it means that more resources don’t need to be cultivated and more manufacturing is not necessary.

And instead of getting rid of your old phone, you might choose to keep it longer yourself. That’s a smart decision too. What are some of the other ways we can keep these smartphones from ending up at the landfill?

• Clean Slate: If you find that your existing late model smartphone isn’t performing as it once did, sometimes all it needs is a clean wipe. A factory reset can get your old phone running like new. It’s also much cheaper to replace the battery than it is to replace the whole phone.
• Renewed Purpose: Just because you don’t want to use your phone as a phone anymore doesn’t mean it’s useless. It can live a new life as a dedicated smart home controller that you leave on the coffee table, or as a dedicated portable media player.
• Hand-Me-Down: As much as they might proclaim they have to have the latest iPhone, most children, tweens and teens really don’t. Hand down your old devices to the next generation. Or, as the case might be, you could hand your phone down to your parents and grandparents too, as many people from older generations might not be as interested in paying for the newest devices either.

Perhaps one of the best ways to keep phones out of landfills is through the secondary resale market. More specifically, you can save money and buy used late model smartphones from a reputable source like Orchard. Private sales through platforms like Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist are inherently risky. You’ll have no recourse if the phone turns out to be a dud or otherwise has problems.

When you buy from Orchard, you get a 30-day warranty, with options to further extend that warranty. This eliminates the hassle of meeting random people you meet on the Internet, and you avoid the potential hazard of getting stuck with an unusable device.

Don’t let yet another device get forgotten at the bottom of some drawer. Allow it to continue sparking joy, putting them to good use with someone who will actually use and appreciate it. You avoid the landfill, reduce e-waste, and do your small part in saving the planet… one touchscreen-enabled, social media channeling device at a time.

Promotional consideration for this post was provided by Orchard.