Wake up call: The True Cost of Gadgets

The Gaia Foundation teamed up with Steve Cutts to bring us this video which looks at the true cost of gadgets driven lifestyles. Built in obsolescence has become a know fact about electronic goods that previous generations used to buy once in a lifetime. The fact that we renew electronic gadgets regularly has become the norm. In fact cell phone batteries do not even last as long as a phone does (which is usually coincidentally as long as a contract) But the impact of this is far more far reaching than simply the inconvenience and extra cost to you.

The full cost of gadgets includes the cost of raw materials and manufacture; from the human and environmental effects of the mining to the mountains of e-waste dumped around the planet. Again, its hard to know the full story when everything looks so glossy in the shops. The Gaia Foundation put it well “The lifecycles of our technology are strewn with unacceptable devastation and toxicity.” Sadly…

This is a call to increase awareness and hopefully lead people to rethink. Do you need an upgrade? Another ipad for the kids so they can each have one? Another TV so everyone can watch their favourite channel and there’s no arguments? How much more are we going to sacrifice the ancient beauty of the natural world for short term and satisfactions? (Can you call screentime satisfying? But that’s a completely different debate)