Black Friday: the impacts of our overconsumption

The French addicted to electronic devices ?

Electronic objects have invaded our daily lives. Although many of them have become indispensable to our lives, their abundance raises questions in a world where resources are not unlimited.

On average, a French household has 99 electronic and electrical equipment. From refrigerators to telephones, washing machines, hairdryers, alarm clocks and all small electronic devices, not to mention tools, toys and lighting fixtures, every room in the house passes through. 
If we look at connected devices (mobile phones, watches, etc.), we see that a French person has on average 15. While this same average amounts to 8 per person in the world.

Consumption with environmental, social and health impacts 

As you can see, the French are big consumers and users of digital devices. And yet, these devices are among the most complex products to produce and are the least durable. Take the example of a smartphone, which will have environmental impacts throughout its life cycle (from the extraction of raw materials, through its manufacture, transport, use and end of life), as well as social impacts.

The main environmental impacts will be resource depletion, damage to biodiversity due to toxic discharges into the environment and greenhouse gas emissions. From a social and health point of view, working conditions are often deplorable and violate fundamental human rights. The extraction of «blood minerals» (tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold) leads to fuelling armed conflicts at the expense of local populations: 

• In China, the exploitation of neodymium, used in the magnets of smartphones, generates acid water discharges and waste loaded with radioactivity as well as heavy metals.
• In Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, the massive use of water for the production of lithium (metal present in the batteries of smartphones) causes conflicts of use with the local populations, to the point of compromising their survival.
• In the southern Democratic Republic of Congo, UNICEF has identified more than 40,000 children who are believed to be working in mines, many of them in cobalt and coltan mines, strategic minerals found in batteries and capacitors on smartphones.
  

Become a consumer

The environmental, social and health impacts of producing a smartphone are chilling. As a consumer, it is high time and within everyone’s reach to act on these impacts. For this, before embarking on a new purchase, it is essential to ask the right questions in order to ask if his future purchase is really useful.

Checklist to complete before considering a new purchase 👇

• Prefer the purchase of a refurbished device. The second-hand purchase, allows a reduction of annual environmental impact of 55% to 91% according to indicators compared to the use of a new smartphone. 82kg of raw materials will be preserved and 25kg of GHG per year of use. When making the purchase, you will also have to question its use: Do I need a large screen ? Do I need a web browser or social media? In the case of a limited use of a phone, these questions will allow to move to a simpler device, which will have been less complex to manufacture.
  
  

• Think about the need for his new purchase. Ademe specifies that buying a refurbished smartphone every 3 years, having already had a first life of at least 3 years would minimize the impacts on climate change. Before rushing headlong, it is therefore essential to ask whether the refurbished purchase I am about to make will be used well for at least 3 years. It is good to remember that it is not necessary to buy a reconditioned product only to give good conscience, the approach

• Protect your smartphone, with basic accessories such as a shell and a screen protector. You can also give your smartphone time to blow when it overheats. And finally, do not wait until the battery is completely flat to charge it and avoid leaving it charging overnight.

• Repair parts that require it rather than completely changing the product. A smartphone that is less than 2 years old can be supported by its seller thanks to the warranty. Once the warranty period is exceeded, it is always possible to call the manufacturer’s after-sales service or to contact an independent repairer. And finally, some tutorials will help you make some home repairs. Good to know: as of December 15, 2022, a repair fund will allow individuals to go to one of the 500 first authorized repairers (labeled QualiRépar) and enjoy a discount for the repair of their product.
  
  
• Offer a second life to your smartphone and no longer keep it at home "in case". According to the Ademe between 54 and 110 million smartphones sleep in our closets. These figures are staggering, especially considering that two-thirds of these devices are still in working order. To offer a second life to your device, you can: sell it, give it to someone around you or a reuse structure or take it back to the store. Distributors are obliged to take back your old appliances. They will then be repackaged or recycled in approved channelsigation de reprendre vos anciens appareils. Ils seront alors reconditionnés ou recyclés dans les filières agrées. 
  

Once the checklist is complete, if your purchase is essential, pay attention to fake bargains whether on new and reconditioned products. They are common during the Black Friday period. To combat this trend, new rules are put in place. Merchants must now display the lowest price they applied in the month prior to the start of the promotion. Concretely, if a merchant wants to sell 90 € a product that he sold between 100 and 130 € in the 30 days preceding the promotion, the crossed-out price must be 100 €. The displayed discount will therefore be 10%.