Most people would agree that human civilization as it exists today is not entirely sustainable due to our overuse of resources and our reliance on environmentally damaging fuel sources such as fossil fuels. Electronic waste forms a rather huge component of the environmental destruction that we are wreaking on the world, and this new survey from ARRIS Composites revealed that while a lot of Americans want to live sustainably, many of them don’t know how to do so.
Indeed, out of the thousand or so people that ARRIS Composites surveyed, around 90% agreed that they want to start living more sustainably. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that their lack of options when it comes to electronic waste disposal is a huge issue because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up forcing them to dump this waste in harmful areas.
Around 28% of Americans upgrade their electronics every three years, with 26% doing so every two years and 19% deciding to wait up to four years before they replace their devices. 35% of people that buy a new phone do so because their old phone broke down, with 27% saying that it was specifically the poor battery life of their older model that spurred them to purchase an upgrade. In spite of the fact that this is the case, 20% purchased a new phone simply because they wanted the flagship model that had just been released.
38% of the people that buy new phones trade their old phones in for credit or cash, 37% just keep it lying around at home, 15% recycle the older phone and 6% give the phone to family members or friends who might need a hand me down with all things having been considered and taken into account. The average person therefore goes through at least twenty phones during their life, and coming up with ways for people to dispose of these phones securely should be of paramount importance.
56% of the Americans that participated in this survey said that while they want to try to recycle their phones, doing so was quite hard because there just weren’t all that many options that could allow them to take part in this recycling endeavor. 88% said they would be far more willing to look into recycling older electronics that they no longer use if they were given simpler and easier recycling options, so providing them with these opportunities can quite clearly pave the way for a far lower quantity of electronic waste each year.
Another thing to note here is that 77% of consumers did not know about recycling events that were happening in their communities or adjacent areas. That indicates that it might just be a matter of lack of awareness, and that recycling infrastructure has already been put into place but for one reason or another Americans don’t seem to know about them. Sustainable electronics usage is becoming ever more critical as various environmental catastrophes loom on the horizon, and recycling is only the first step towards fixing this issue.
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Indeed, out of the thousand or so people that ARRIS Composites surveyed, around 90% agreed that they want to start living more sustainably. With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that their lack of options when it comes to electronic waste disposal is a huge issue because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up forcing them to dump this waste in harmful areas.
Around 28% of Americans upgrade their electronics every three years, with 26% doing so every two years and 19% deciding to wait up to four years before they replace their devices. 35% of people that buy a new phone do so because their old phone broke down, with 27% saying that it was specifically the poor battery life of their older model that spurred them to purchase an upgrade. In spite of the fact that this is the case, 20% purchased a new phone simply because they wanted the flagship model that had just been released.
38% of the people that buy new phones trade their old phones in for credit or cash, 37% just keep it lying around at home, 15% recycle the older phone and 6% give the phone to family members or friends who might need a hand me down with all things having been considered and taken into account. The average person therefore goes through at least twenty phones during their life, and coming up with ways for people to dispose of these phones securely should be of paramount importance.
56% of the Americans that participated in this survey said that while they want to try to recycle their phones, doing so was quite hard because there just weren’t all that many options that could allow them to take part in this recycling endeavor. 88% said they would be far more willing to look into recycling older electronics that they no longer use if they were given simpler and easier recycling options, so providing them with these opportunities can quite clearly pave the way for a far lower quantity of electronic waste each year.
Another thing to note here is that 77% of consumers did not know about recycling events that were happening in their communities or adjacent areas. That indicates that it might just be a matter of lack of awareness, and that recycling infrastructure has already been put into place but for one reason or another Americans don’t seem to know about them. Sustainable electronics usage is becoming ever more critical as various environmental catastrophes loom on the horizon, and recycling is only the first step towards fixing this issue.
