The True Cost of Tech and The Benefits of Refurbished Devices
Did you know there are around 64 million smartphone users in the UK? Well, according to a survey, run by Techies Go Green signatory Doji, less than 10% of people have ever bought or sold a second hand phone or tablet. These are truly worrying statistics for our society and our planet’s health.
With an ever expanding user base, completely obsessed with the latest hardware and designs - we’re creating a huge amount of damage to our world. But how much do we really know about the damage our smartphones and tablets are causing? And what can we do to prevent it?
Cost of Smartphones and Tablets
The average smartphone weighs around 200g and they’re owned by nearly every person in the UK, in some cases people even have a work phone too. We change or upgrade our phones every 18-24 months, and for the most part our old phones end up in landfill or just sit gathering dust around our homes. This needs to stop.
Our want for the latest technology paired with our propensity to not recycle properly, puts a huge amount of pressure on manufacturers to mine our planet for additional resources (some of which only occur in very small amounts now). These minerals and resources need to be mined, refined and then transported around the world so they can be made into the latest iPhone, Galaxy or Pixel phone. And this is only part of the problem.
There is also the problem of growing electronic waste, which has even been classified as a tsunami by the United Nations. In 2022 the e-waste produced globally weighed more than the Great Wall of China, and the majority of it was left to degrade in landfill.
The solution, dare we say it, is fairly simple. We need to reuse and recycle more, allowing devices to extend their lives and parts to be reused, but also be more careful about the companies we give our hard earned money to. Choosing companies who value our planet and do business responsibly, rather than just trying to line their own pockets at the cost of our health.
What can you do to reduce the impact of your tech?
Any unused phones or tablets in your home can be sold on, helping to extend their lives, or recycled, reducing the need to mine our planet for more resources and protecting trees and habitats globally. The used tech market has boomed in recent years, giving us all greater access to products at better prices - and refurbished phones and tablets, bought from trusted platforms, come with all the same warranties and guarantees you’d get from a new device.
A lot of people don’t even realise how much their phones or contracts are really costing them over a full term, and with the cost of living crisis this is something we should all be considering for these reasons alone.
Cost Comparisons New vs. Refurbished
Here’s a simple comparison between the costs, of both handset only and contracts, to give you an idea of the savings you can make.
Handset only - we’ve used our signatory Doji for this example:
If you are looking at purchasing the iPhone 14 in 128GB from the Apple Store it would cost you £849 - the device comes covered by Apple’s Quality Guarantee. If you were to buy the Apple iPhone 14 in 128GB from the Doji trading platform, it would cost you around £580 in ‘Like New’ condition. This device comes covered by Apple’s Quality Guarantee, with a 12-month warranty and 30-day returns.
That’s over a 30% saving for a near identical device, honestly nobody would know the difference.
Contract Costs - we used Doji and a sim-only deal as a comparison:
Purchasing the Apple iPhone 14 128GB on EE with 5GB data, would cost you £1,662 over the full 24 month contract.If you were to purchase the handset on Doji, and sort yourself a data sim-only deal with 5GB data, your total cost over 24 months would be £724.
That’s over a 56% saving for a near identical device and nearly £1000 you can put back into your household.
And if you’re a business, just multiply that by the number of staff with work phones - that’s a huge saving to take to your finance team and a carbon emissions reduction too!
Start saving today with Doji
There you have it, a few clear reasons you should consider changing your shopping behaviour and relationship with the latest tech.
The savings and benefits to our planet should be reason enough, but Doji is also offering our signatories an additional saving to support the change. Sign up as a Techies Go Green Signatory today and we’ll send you a discount code to get money off you’re next phone or tablet!
About Doji
Doji is an award winning smartphone and tablet trading platform, where you’ll find refurbished tech at the best prices. They utilise a financial exchange model, to show you the prices buyers are willing to pay and sellers are willing to accept, this keeps the pricing transparent and fair. Every device sold on their platform is checked and tested before it reaches you, and they’re even given a 12-month warranty!
If you’re a business, you can reach out to Doji and they’ll help get your team switched over to refurbished tech. They also provide helpful reports to show your carbon emission reductions, helping bring you that step closer to Net Zero and Carbon Neutrality.
Joining Techies Go Green.
If you want to learn more about sustainability and what your company can do to become more sustainable, consider joining Techies Go Green. Techies Go Green is a movement dedicated to decarbonising IT and tech-oriented companies through collaborating and sharing knowledge. Membership is open to both companies and individuals within the UK and Ireland. We would love to have you join and to help you in your journey towards sustainability and decarbonisation.