Fossil Fuels Contained Even in Our Smartphones

The number of cell phone users around the world is estimated to be 5 billion in 2019. This might be beneficial for business, but it is very harmful to the environment and it is crucial that people understand that. I, Maya Patel believe that smartphones are harmful to the environment based on three different reasons. First of all, Smartphones use up a lot of energy. Energy that is going to get wasted. Second of all, they are made up of a lot of elements from the periodic table. Some of these elements are very dangering to us human beings and to the place we call home. Third of all, the parts an iphone is made up in general is very harmful to the environment.

According to the Irish News, “How our smartphones are hurting the environment” the main reason cell phones are hurting the environment is because of the carbon footprint. The carbon footprint measures the amount of greenhouse gases you are responsible for creating. Smartphones are the most damaging of all devices in the industry They also have a short shelf life which means they are a big waste of energy. The electricity that the phones use is from fossil fuels. ICT stands for information and communication technology. The software driving the ICT industry has a greater impact on what’s given off (emissions) than they thought. Concluding this paragraph, the carbon footprint that cell phones give off are hurting the environment because they are wasting energy that they get from fossil fuels. Those same fossil fuels can be used for more important things like heating our homes. The less fossil fuels we use, the healthier our environment is.

The elements an iphone is made of can be very harmful. To start, Indium tin oxide can cause irritation in the respiratory tract. It should not be inhaled. Your phone becomes radioactive once Indium Tin Oxide is on it. This is because it is used for your screen. It is the reason your phone is touch screen. Another element is copper. But copper is not really harmful. It is used in your phones wiring. It is recommended to use because of the fact that it is easy to mold and it is a very helpful conductor. According to my background research in 2009, 141 million cell phones were thrown away to get upgraded but only 12 million got recycled. When phones are thrown away and not recycled they increase the number of greenhouse gases. Some of the elements may not pose a threat when they are getting used but when they are thrown out and gone to waste they pose a big threat to the environment.

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