The Green Guide: Tip NO.5 – Hanging on the telephone

Tips and tricks for making environmentally friendly swaps today!

Hands up who has used their mobile phone today? 🙌🏾 Maybe you are reading this on your phone right now?! So how can we create change using the thing we hold in our hands everyday?

As many people are aware, phones are a clear example of modern consumption and waste – companies battle to win our attention with new phones, each better than the next, causing phones to be part of a constant cycle of wanting the new and throwing the old away. The endless applications on our phones shorten our attention spans, patience and connection with nature. So to implement some changes into your relationship with your phone, here are a few ideas…

• Charging – reduce your electricity usage by extending your phone’s battery so it spends less time charging. Turn down your screen brightness, switch on aeroplane mode and turn your phone off completely at night – not only will you save electricity, but these tips can help with issues like eye strain and trouble sleeping as a result of seeing too much of our phone screens.
• Video quality – recent research has found that watching videos on your phone in HD generates more carbon emissions than watching them in Standard Definition (SD) (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/technology-55164410). For many videos on your phone, the definition doesn’t make that big of a difference, so try swapping to SD when you can. That YouTube meditation? You probably don’t need a high quality video when your eyes are closed…..

• Green Apps – find your phone the most useful place for tracking goals? Explore apps that help you make sustainable changes and track your progress. Examples include Green Life, Ecologi (Become Climate Positive with Ecologi | Ecologi), Zero Waste Goals, Ecosia (Ecosia – the search engine that plants trees), Brightly: Eco Community (Brightly | Sustainable, Eco-Friendly Living for Conscious Consumers) and Forest (Forest – Stay focused, be present (forestapp.cc)).
• Look after your phone – try to take care of your phone to extend its life expectancy, for instance by trying to not physically damage it or damage it internally, so that it stays in use for longer and less resources are needed to create as many new phones.
• Finally, despite their problems, the opportunities our phones give us to engage with change is immense. Follow creators and companies who are making an impact, get involved in petitions and sustainability news and connect with other people who also want to create change so that we can motivate ourselves and each other to protect our home.

Hopefully now when you switch on your phone, you can feel more empowered by using it to help you in your sustainability journey, rather than being drained by its constant demands. Take back control and you will have the motivation to make waves.