(no subject)

One of the magazines that goes around the office had an article about attempts to green the massive amount of electronic waste we're currently generating. Its main focus was on cell phones. The article has a british slant, so the stats are from there.

According to the article, while cell phones are designed to last around 10 years, the average lifespan before replacement in the UK is a mere 18 months, and 1712 new cell phones are purchased in the UK every hour. And, unfortunately, the design of cell phones doesn't currently make them candidates for recycling, because they're time-consuming (read expensive) to take apart.

So, nancy_blue -- can you confirm the 10 year planned lifespan? Is that the case in NA as well?

There are some new technologies on the horizon:
- "automatic disassembly", where the parts are held together by a fastener made of "smart" materials that will hold together until told to separate, thereby making recovery for recycling a bit easier
- biodegradable phone covers that contain sunflower seeds

It all makes me feel a tiny bit better about deciding to keep my phone.