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Protecting Clean Water Together: Water In Your Pocket: Why Not Buy Refurbished Tech?

By Carol Hillestad for the Brodhead Watershed Association

It’s a no-brainer that buying refurbished technology is cheaper than buying new. One example: an unlocked, 128 GB iPhone 13 goes for $381 — 39 percent less than new — on www.backmarket.com. If you have a trade-in, you can save even more.

And buying refurb electronics is way more than just cheaper.

Buying refurb saves water. Thousands of gallons of water. Manufacturing the indispensable smart phone in your back pocket took about 3,200 gallons of water.

You read that right — 3,200 gallons for one phone.

Every step in making a smart phone uses water: from mining the metals, to making the components, to assembling and packaging.

The toxic dregs have to be diluted before being disposed of, and that alone guzzles enormous amounts of clean water.

Buying refurb saves other resources, too. Electronic “waste” is full of stuff that can be re-used, but we humans throw away more than 50 million tons of electronic waste every year. And only a small percentage actually gets recycled.

What a waste!

Why not find out about buying refurbed goods? Manufacturers like Apple, Samsung, Dell, Lenovo, iRobot, Dyson, KitchenAid, Vitamix, and HP all have “storefronts” on eBay.com that offer factory-refurbished goods, many offering free returns and product warranties.

Some will buy back their brands from you for more savings (and less in the landfill).

For even more options, enter “refurb tech deals” in your search engine to find websites that specialize in refurbishing and selling multiple brands of electronics and other goods.

Maybe you used to be the first in line to get the newest iPhone. Or maybe you’re still hanging on to your old iPhone7 because, hey, it does what you need and you have better uses for your hard-earned cash.

Either way, next time you’re in the market for a phone, tablet, computer, or other tech-based product, keep in mind that “new-to-you” can be the best deal — for you, our water, and our planet.

Refurb sites to consider dcluttr.com, backmarket.com and eBay.com.

Click Here for more information about buying refurbed equipment.

[Note: Senate Bill 744 (Regan-R-Cumberland) “Right to Repair” bill would require manufacturers of digital electronic equipment to make available information needed to repair and maintain their equipment. The bill is pending in the Senate Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure Committee.

[The House also held a hearing on this issue on March 25 and expects “Right to Repair” legislation to be introduced there in the near future. Read more here.]

Click Here for more Protecting Clean Water Together features.

For more information on programs, initiatives and other upcoming events, visit the Brodhead Watershed Association website or Follow them on Facebook. Click Here to sign up for regular updates from the Association. Click Here to become a member.

Related Article - E-Waste:

-- Pennsylvania’s Electronic Waste Recycling Law, Program Is Broken

NewsClip:

-- Post-Gazette Editorial: Pennsylvanians Deserve The Right To Repair

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-- Protecting Clean Water Together: Water In Your Pocket: Why Not Buy Refurbished Tech? - By Carol Hillestad for the Brodhead Watershed Association [PaEN]