A phone worth keeping for longer – Phonebloks
Did you know that?
1. E-waste represents 2 percent of America’s trash in landfills, but it equals 70 percent of overall toxic waste. The extreme amount of lead in electronics alone causes damage in the central and peripheral nervous systems, the blood and the kidneys.
2. 20 to 50 million metric tons of e-waste are disposed worldwide every year.
3. Cell phones and other electronic items contain high amounts of precious metals like gold or silver. Americans dump phones containing over $60 million in gold/silver every year.
4. Only 12.5 percent of e-waste is currently recycled.
5. For every 1 million cell phones that are recycled, 35,274 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered.
6. Recycling 1 million laptops saves the energy equivalent to the electricity used by 3,657 U.S. homes in a year.
7. E-waste is still the fastest growing municipal waste stream in America, according to the EPA.
Source: dosomething.org
When you read such statistics on E-waste it is a breath of fresh air that someone out there is trying to make a difference to how we view and use technology. Phonebloks is a different and a new innovative way of looking at the same everyday technology in our pockets called the ‘phone’.
The idea is simple. The ‘PhoneBlok’ design which is currently in its prototype stage allows every person to choose what and how they want to use their phone. If you want a camera heavy phone, you simply attach a better camera on to your ‘PhoneBlok’ just as you would with a lego piece. Or if you want a longer battery life you simply compromise on other areas and attach a larger battery. Rather than replace the phone because it no longer suits your needs, you simple remove and add the bits you need according to your changing requirements.
Watch the video below to make sense of it all.
Because the phone is still at its very early stages of design, crowd sourcing, and interest etc, tomorrow on Tuesday 29th of October, the PhoneBloks initiative wants everyone who supports the idea to join in the “Thunder Clap”. What is a “Thunder Clap”? The website explains it as “a crowd-speaking platform. People can join together and let their voices be heard. This video explains it all.”
When you think of the E-Waste that the developed world’s contributes to, the least we can do is support such projects. However we still need more such projects and thinking required. Go to ThunderClap.it and show your support.
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