I was thinking about this prompt a lot and trying to figure out what waste I take for granted when it comes to pollution and having an effect on the environment. Break was the needed inspiration for this post.

Over thanksgiving break my phone decided to not charge anymore (among other small problems) and I decided it was finally time to upgrade. In this process I was handed back my old now useless phone which I then added to my parents graveyard of dead devices waiting for proper disposal. This is a process I have done several times in my life by now and often without thought. We use them and use them until all the battery life is drained from them and they are reverted back to useless scraps of metal, tossed aside for the new one. It’s a process of mass production and mass consumption that leaves a massive rarely talked about carbon footprint. It’s deemed a necessary item and small/harmless enough not to make a big difference but once taken to a larger worldwide scale creates a big impact.  If I was to be on my phone less and use it for things I deem important or trade it in for say a flip phone which only has the basics perhaps that would make a difference. Unfortunately with it being a necessary item in the common day to day life it seems impossible we will get out of the trap of mass producing.