Living in Sustainable Symbiosis

It used to be that phones were just used for calling. As they evolved, personal hand devices came onto the market with texting abilities. Games arrived on your personal device and suddenly now in the age of smartphones we have thess amazing things called apps. Now many sustainability activits may dispute this, bringing to the table all the associated problems with mobile devices, specifically their substantial use of mined metalloids. There are the issues of social equity with the employees of these mines - often residing in developing nations -, the pollution which comes from these mines and its accumulation in water sources, sediments and even its biomagnification in food chains. Post production, their is the extensive use of electricity to charge these devices, aiding the continual rising demand for energy and continual growth of non-renewable technologies such as coal, oil and gas which are polluting the earth and contributing to climate change. Post consumption there is also a huge issue with recycling of these electronic devices. So how one earth could I call it good? How could phones be sustainable in any way?

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I reitorate what I have said in previous posts. Removing oneself from the current global system only ostracises you and effectively decreases your power and in actual fact, reduces the credibility of a sustainable lifestyle. Imagine what everyone else on the earth would think if you told them that in order to be more sustainable they need to stop buying electronic devices. NO! That is going to push people away and looking at the web address of this site you can see I feel very strongly about this. The 'green' image pushes people away. So instead I offer a new approach. 

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Embrace what we have and turn it around for good. 

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Smartphone apps are an absolutely brilliant tool for sustainability. Yes I DID just claim that.
You can get an app for almost anything nowadays. Just type it in and someone has made it. If you've ever watched Dragon's Den you will sometimes see someone arrive with an 'app' idea, but mostly they get turned down because there is just such a huge market already out there. Best of all, most of them are free!

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So how does this relate to sustainability?
Well I want to motivate you to start using your phone as a way to make your life more sustainable. I urge you to look for apps which will help you out in planning your life better.

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So I'm going to create a page on this blog where I will post all the best sustainability apps that I find. But go, and have a search.
Sustainability News.
Cycling trails.
Car sharing networks.
Products sustainability rating apps.  
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Have a search now and then check out my page for more ideas!