6 best ways to make your gadget use more sustainable

Everyone knows basic ways to have a gentler environmental impact: recycle plastic and aluminum, walk or take public transport if you can, turn off the lights when you leave a room, unsubscribe to junk snail mail and more.카지노사이트

Sure, you can reduce, reuse, and recycle all you want, but when it comes to our tech devices, we could do a lot to be more sustainable.

The idea of sustainability is broad, but experts recommend looking at not only what tech products you buy, but how you use your devices can make even a little impact on being more “green” with technology.

Take stock of your own sustainability and look at your lifestyle
According to the Nature Conservancy, the average US citizen has a yearly carbon footprint of 16 tons, compared to the global rate of about four tons.

When looking at our own impact on sustainability, Ed Anderson, a distinguished analyst at Gartner, says you should consider what sustainability means, and what’s important to you individually.

“If you actually ask people, ‘What do you mean by sustainability?’ it’s harder to get to something more concrete,” he tells ZDNET. “So, the competencies for us this year will be to understand what sustainability really looks like.”

Sustainability for each person could be different, especially depending on your lifestyle. The Nature Conservatory has a handy sustainability calculator that estimates your carbon footprint based on where you live, how often you travel, what car you drive, and your diet.

So sure, you could recycle plastic water bottles, but maybe you throw away old phones or GPS devices in the trash as soon as they stop working? Anderson says every little habit counts when it comes to sustainability, and utilizing technology in the right way to help us gauge our carbon footprint is vital.

“We need to get to this point where it’s not just about sustainability; it’s about the specific things, the specific activities that lead us to the right sustainability outcomes,” he says.

Recycle your devices, but make sure it’s the proper way
Recycling your old devices should be as easy as purchasing them, but not everyone knows how or where to get rid of old gadgets, resulting in a growing amount of electronic waste (e-waste).

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says e-waste is the fastest growing waste stream in America: the world produces as much as 50 million metric tons of e-waste annually.

Also: The best green phones: Sustainable and eco-friendly smartphones

If you’re not already recycling your unused smartphones, cameras, computers, and other gadgets, you should be. The good news is there’s many ways and various places where you can properly recycle your old tech gadgets.바카라사이트

Best Buy Recycling:

Your local Best Buy accepts old electronics (up to three items per household per day) to recycle. Best Buy takes everything from appliances to inks and toners to video game consoles and even robot vacuums.

Amazon:

You can trade in your old devices for Amazon gift cards. The Amazon Trade-In portal lets you turn in Amazon devices, such as Kindles, Fire tablets, Echo speakers, or Ring doorbells, for up to 25% off a new qualifying Amazon device.

Samsung Take Back & Recycling Program:

Samsung has e-waste collection sites in all 50 states, so you can easily drop off used tech products. You can drop off electronics at one of the Samsung Experience Stores and Samsung Care locations or one of 500 uBreakiFix locations, a partner of Samsung. The company reuses and recycles all devices into a product that can be used again.

Apple’s Trade-In Program:

For Apple users, you can trade in any device in any condition, and Apple will give you credit towards a new device, and recycle it for free. You can recycle any Apple-owned brand devices at Apple Stores or through apple.com.

Upcycle your devices
On the flip side, your outdated smartphone doesn’t have to get recycled to give it a new life. Upcycling your old devices to bring new life to them is a great way to be sustainable with technology.

Mark Newton, head of North America corporate sustainability at Samsung, says success is not just upcycling the product, but using it to solve a real problem. Samsung’s program is an example of upcycling done right — its Galaxy Upcycling Program allows customers to use their older Samsung phones for new uses, reducing the need to recycle the devices altogether.

For example, through the Samsung SmartThings app, consumers can utilize an old Samsung phone to turn it into something that controls their smart home devices, such as lights or the TV.온라인카지노