It has come to that time where my mobile phone contract has come up to an end. I’m due a phone upgrade and, as with most of my personal purchases, I make I want to be as ethical as possible.
Earlier this week my old team mates on the Rhythms site posted a great article raising the issues around the precious metals that go in to our electronic devices. There’s this great graph showing how well the leading companies are doing at sourcing these materials and this helped me with my decision, but it’s still been a hard one as I had my two top choices down to the HTC ONE and a Samsung Galaxy Note II. Niether HTC nor Samsung score very highly in sorcing materials ethically, so I’ve been trying to figure out what to do. I didn’t want to go with an iPhone as there are still issues with their workforce, and so that left Nokia with the only options being Windows phones which would not match my workflow.
Can I find an ethical smartphones?
This left me with several more questions:
- Why is it so difficult to buy electronics that are ethical?
- Should I change my workflow to be a more ethical consumer?
- Should I think about giving up what I want and go for something less top-line?
- How are my consumer choices having a negative effecting those living in poverty?
We should all think about these issues and the impact our choices have on the world. If we are to love our neighbours as Jesus instructed then we must!
Check these websites out for further reading and studdies on ethical choices:
What do you think?
[Image via Julien Harneis from Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (Mining for columbite in Kailo) CC-BY-SA-2.0 via Wikimedia Commons]
Chris S. says
If it’s really important to you why not change your workflow?
Mark Robinson says
Hey Chris – Over the past 3 years I’ve been making many many changes to my life in an effort to be more ethical and to be greener.
Technology is the next big hurdle. It’s not just about changing my own workflow but about encouraging others to think about their own choices when it comes to phones and other tech they use.
Chris S. says
Agreed. Just sounded like the Nokia option was being dismissed because it was inconvenient.
fono says
http://www.fairphone.com/
Currently preorder is limited to Europe, shipping starts in fall, but you can contact the team and ask for international shipping?
Mark Robinson says
There’s another post coming about this very phone.
fono says
Nice! Looking forward to read about it here.