To me this seems to be a case of whataboutism. Just because there are worse things to do environmentally speaking does not mean that this is not a problem.
Actually, from an economic perspective, you should tackle the lowest hanging fruit. Assuming we can only tackle a non-unlimited amount of issues at any given time.
I'm assuming this article hits the dopamine because everyone has a phone, and it's a very personal item and everyone upgrades / replaces them eventually. A window A/C on the other hand, not so much.
Usually I don’t like this argument because it shifts the discussion from something you can control to something you can’t which justifies doing nothing.
But in this case, talking about the difference between multiple consumer goods makes sense because you are in control of all of them.
Simply not buying an oversized car does more than a lifetime of using phones for longer.
I don’t mean this to be facetious, but they pointed out that this is whataboutism, and you, in more or less words, disagreed and said ‘what about this other e-waste that should be dealt with?’
besides this, how many people do you know that don’t have a phone? how often on average do you think people replace their phones?
compare those answers to other tech/machinery that you may be thinking of starting with.
also, finally, the top-level comment here takes a really shallow view of how the world economy works. yes if there was a shortage of these materials, there would be an economic incentive to recycle them properly, but that doesn’t mean that the obtaining of these materials doesn’t have a huge human or environmental cost. just because you can get a material cheaply doesn’t mean there’s nothing wrong with doing it
Sure, but not everyone has the same opportunities. So I'd say we should focus on the best we _can_ do personally.
It's better for me to focus on recycling my electronics than focusing on the ecological impact of the modern commercial satellites madness. Because I cannot do anything about Starlink and the likes, but I can recycle my phone.
ocbyc|3 years ago
I'm assuming this article hits the dopamine because everyone has a phone, and it's a very personal item and everyone upgrades / replaces them eventually. A window A/C on the other hand, not so much.
Gigachad|3 years ago
But in this case, talking about the difference between multiple consumer goods makes sense because you are in control of all of them.
Simply not buying an oversized car does more than a lifetime of using phones for longer.
thrown_22|3 years ago
To equate the two is idiocy.
permo-w|3 years ago
vlunkr|3 years ago
paulcole|3 years ago
permo-w|3 years ago
besides this, how many people do you know that don’t have a phone? how often on average do you think people replace their phones?
compare those answers to other tech/machinery that you may be thinking of starting with.
also, finally, the top-level comment here takes a really shallow view of how the world economy works. yes if there was a shortage of these materials, there would be an economic incentive to recycle them properly, but that doesn’t mean that the obtaining of these materials doesn’t have a huge human or environmental cost. just because you can get a material cheaply doesn’t mean there’s nothing wrong with doing it
tormeh|3 years ago
plzbo|3 years ago
palata|3 years ago
It's better for me to focus on recycling my electronics than focusing on the ecological impact of the modern commercial satellites madness. Because I cannot do anything about Starlink and the likes, but I can recycle my phone.