100 points to know about...
Eco-Design Web Development

As we have seen in the first lesson, manufacturing of hardware has a significant environmental impact. It implies mining and transportation of minerals needed to produce chips and batteries and afterwards their disposal.
We have gotten into the habit of changing our gadgets too quickly. That generates tons of e-waste that ends up in landfills or is transported abroad releasing substances dangerous to human health. You can visit https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/planet-earth/waste/electronic-waste-facts/story to watch the e-waste counter in real time. Annual e-waste is equivalent to throwing out 1000 laptops every single second!

What can we do to reduce the harmful impact of electronic equipment? We can address this challenge from 2 sides:

• Manufacturers
• Users

Producers / Manufacturers

They should avoid obsolescence:

• Planned – when the products are designed to fail before their realistic lifespan with the purpose to boost sales.
• Perceived – convinces us to get rid of stuff that is still perfectly useful. How is this achieved – by creating new lines of products which immediately make their predecessors (that might be only 1 year old) unfashionable and less desirable.

Companies should adopt new circular business models. They can develop new income sources – not only from selling, but also from resale, repair, upgrade, renting etc. This will help them to create stronger customer relationships based on quality, transparency and service.

Users

On our side we can also contribute to this fight following some of these tips:

• Don´t just throw away things that still work, consider reselling or donating them;
• Follow good battery management practices to extend the life of your devices;
• Buy modular devices when possible so you substitute parts rather than replacing the whole device;
• Be careful with software updates. Sometimes they intentionally slow down older devices;
• If your gadget doesn’t function anymore and cannot be repaired, make sure to dispose it correctly in nearby places where it can be recycled;
• Don´t contribute to the perceived obsolescence by buying a new gadget just because it´s on market when your old one works perfectly. Look at your device as a long term investment rather than a disposable fashionable item;
• Power down devices when they are not used;
• Turning down the brightness of the screen also helps to reduce energy use;
• Unplug all the chargers of devices when not in use. The so called “phantom power” (the energy sucked by powered down but not unplugged devices) is responsible for a quarter of all energy consumed in homes;
• Use the sleep mode for your devices while taking a break;
• When possible switch to renewable energy sources either installing your own system or choosing from the options your energy provider offers.