The storage place does not suffice anymore, the loading of the homepages takes several minutes and after only a few hours the battery is empty again. An open-and-shut case: You need a new smartphone! But are we conscious of what is hiding in a smartphone? Under which working conditions the production proceeds? Most of us will probably not have wasted any thoughts on what the numerous cell phones we consume in our lives cause to our environment. We will elucidate you about that and present you the solution of the problem likewise: the sustainable Fairphone!

Conflict-Free Minerals

What presumably only few will know: For the fabrication of smartphones conflict mineral like tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold are needed. These are often extracted in trouble areas like the Democratic Republic Congo. Manufacturers of electronic devices are not allowed to support the conflicts there with their production and are obliged to reveal from where the processed materials originate. The problematic consequence is that many companies avoid these regions completely. Nonetheless metals for average smartphones predominantly originate from mining, where sustainability mostly falls by the wayside: environmental pollution, dangerous working conditions and child labour often are accepted thereby. The Dutch start up tries to counteract that by using recycled materials. Moreover they draw two out of four conflict minerals for the production of their Fairphone directly from Congo. However they place value on supporting responsible mining and thereby the economic development of Congo.

Fair Working Conditions

Smartphones are mainly produced in factories in China which is fast and cheap but implicates dreadful working conditions. The developers of the Fairphone established the so-called “Worker Welfare Fund” for the industrial workers in China so that the interests of the employees are granted priority. The fund guarantees higher wages, training opportunities and a secure job. In addition to that recreational activities are financed and the health of the workers are ranked first.

Another user-friendly advantage of the Fairphone: the piece parts are replaceable and therefore the phone can easily be repaired. In this way the Fairphone lasts for years and you do not have to buy a new one frequently. For 529 Euros the Fairphone can be pre-ordered here.