Why It's Important to Buy Refurbished Mobile Phones

We’re going to ask you to do something you don’t often do. (No, not call your mother, but you should do that too.) We’re going to ask you to take your mind back to primary school when you first learnt the phrase reduce, reuse and recycle. Have you been doing much of this lately? Believe it or not, this motto applies not just to cereal boxes and green bags, it also applies to mobile phones. But purchasing sustainable devices doesn’t have to mean compromising quality, as you would when purchasing a second hand product. Refurbished mobiles phones are as good as new while at the same time being ecologically sustainable. So what makes refurbished mobiles so great for the environment? Read on to find out more.

 

Reduce waste

Refurbished mobile phones would have ended up in the bin if they weren’t rescued and refurbished. The first environmental benefit of this process is that we’re minimising waste, especially waste that is not biodegradable. Aside from all the problems associated with burying garbage (which we will look into shortly), landfills are not a long-term solution to waste management. While scientists investigate alternatives to landfill disposal, you can help save space by buying refurbished phones.

 

Reduce toxins

The disposal of electronics is particularly problematic because of the toxins contained within them. Batteries, including those found in computers and mobile phones, contain metals like mercury and lead which, when dumped in landfills, leach into the ground. These chemicals then seep into underground water reserves and make their way into waterways. It’s no surprise that these toxins have the potential to poison our clean water sources and endanger our health. So for health and safety, you’re better off buying refurbished.

 

Preserve resources

Buying used or refurbished goods does a lot for the environment, albeit indirectly. When you purchase a refurbished mobile, you avoid purchasing a new product, which means you save all the resources that went into producing that new mobile. In other words, you save resources that would have gone to waste. The resources you save are not just the materials that the new phone would have been made from, but resources like money, human labour, and precious environmental resources like energy, fossil fuels and water. So when you buy a refurbished mobile phone, there’s a little less dirty smog in the air, a little less global warming, and a little more water for us to drink in summer time.

 

Promote recycling

By buying refurbished mobile phones, you do your part in helping the environment and so much more. The simple act of investing in a sustainable electronic products encourages others to do the same, much like buying water tanks and solar panels shows others the benefit of these actions and inspires them to do so too. Each refurbished mobile phone brings us closer to an ecologically sustainable world.