Smartphones have only been part of our lives for a few decades, but its impacts on our lives are tremendous. From basic text messages and phone calls to even online transaction, smartphones have dominated our lives. In 2019, over 2.91 billion people around the world were smartphone users, and the number of smartphone users are estimated to grow as there are now multitude of companies that offer smartphones that suits almost every needs, ranging from premium smartphones to cost efficient smartphones. Tens of new smartphones are released every year and it has become a routine for people to change their smartphones to new ones. Due to this, it has become easier to ignore the environmental costs of producing and buying new smartphones. While we have cared about single use plastic cutlery and plastic bags, smartphones were often left out of focus. 

What are the environmental costs of one smartphone? When producing smartphones, the process is more than simply assembling different electronic components. Many electronic devices utilize rare elements that involve energy-intensive processes when mining them. Furthermore, manufacturing the components involve the use of different chemicals. Due to this, the study by McMaster University points out that production of a smartphone accounts for 85 to 95% of its annual carbon footprint, which is equivalent to 55kg of carbon emissions according to an article published by the Guardian. 

The environmental costs still continue after purchasing the smartphone. According to a research by Viessmann, using a smartphone simply one hour a day per year can produce approximately 1.4 tons of carbon dioxide. This is more than two round-trip flights from London to Glasgow. If we calculate the number of smartphone users around the world, this would further increase the carbon emissions that is produced by using smartphones. 

While many people are considering using electronic devices as alternatives to nonrenewable products such as notebooks and calendars, the environmental costs of using smartphones questions whether the transition to electronic devices is a more sustainable alternative. 

Works Cited:

Sparks, Hannah. “A Year of Cell Phone Use Emits as Much C02 as Two Round-Trip Flights.” New York Post, New York Post, 1 May 2019, nypost.com/2019/05/01/a-year-of-cell-phone-use-emits-as-much-c02-as-two-round-trip-flights/.

Patel, Prachi. “Smartphones Are Warming the Planet Far More than You Think.” Anthropocene, Anthropocene, 5 Apr. 2018, www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2018/04/the-energy-hogging-dark-side-of-smartphones/#:~:text=Making%20a%20phone%20accounts%20for,equivalent%20between%202010%20and%202020.

Clark, Duncan, and Mike Berners-Lee. “What's the Carbon Footprint of ... a Load of Laundry?” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 25 Nov. 2010, www.theguardian.com/environment/green-living-blog/2010/nov/25/carbon-footprint-load-laundry.