The Temptation of Innovation

The newest iPhone model, the iPhone 7 Pro Max Ultra Violet with the best camera and the most durable and intelligent battery yet, has just been released. I, with my iPhone 13, find it very tempting. With every update, my phone gets slower. I charge it overnight, and after breakfast, it is already down to 20%. After three years, I’m ready for a new iPhone again. But innovation is not always progress.

Not only do we pay a high price for a new smartphone, but so does the planet.

To make a single smartphone, dozens of metals are needed: cobalt from Congo, tin from Indonesia, gold from Peru. And when we are done with our old phones, they often end up on waste dumps in Ghana and India, full of toxic metals that leak into the air and soil.

We produce more than 50 MILLION tons of electronic waste worldwide every year.

FAIRPHONE

Fairphone saw this problem too and decided to make a change. Fairphone is a Dutch company founded by Bas van Abel, Tessa Wernink, and Miquel Ballester. In 2013, it became an official company. This year, they released their latest version, the Fairphone 6.

Fairphone is doing everything it can to be as sustainable as possible.

Founder: Bas van Abel

The Advantages

You can see a Fairphone as a kind of LEGO puzzle. You can build and repair everything yourself. Each part, such as the camera, battery, or screen, can be replaced with a small screwdriver. So if your phone is already dead by breakfast, there’s no need for an Ultra Violet iPhone 17; you can simply install a new battery. This saves a huge amount of waste.

They use fair and recycled materials. Fairphone uses Fairtrade gold and recycled tin, copper, aluminum, and plastic. They avoid conflict minerals: raw materials from mines where exploitation or child labor occurs. In fact, they collaborate with factories and mines in countries like Congo and China to ensure safe working conditions and fair wages. Through the Fair Cobalt Alliance, they support miners in Congo with training, safety measures, and higher incomes.

Fairphone offers a 5-year warranty and 8 years of software updates. This guarantees a longer lifespan and reduces the pressure to keep buying new Ultra Violet iPhones.

Finally, they ensure complete transparency. They know exactly where every component comes from. On their website, you can even find a map of their entire supply chain, from raw material to factory. Each year, they publish an impact report showing how much recycled material they use and how many workers they help earn a living wage.

FOMO and Progress

Fairphone inspires. They make sustainability simple and accessible to everyone. By showing that thousands of people consciously choose a Fairphone, they create a sense of "others are doing it too." We mirror each other. When we see more and more people making a change, we naturally want to join in.

What do you think?

Could you trade your iPhone for a Fairphone?

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