Recycling, driving less, turning the lights off when you leave a room; these are all great ways to reduce your footprint and live a greener, more sustainable life. But, when it comes to green living, you might be forgetting about some very important factors. How green is your smartphone? Does your TV cause harm to the environment? Here’s what you should know about green electronics.
Look for the Energy Star Label
Developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Energy Star label helps consumers make smart, sustainable choices when making purchases. There are a variety of products on the market today that have the Energy Star label, like televisions, refrigerators, microwaves, home computers and washers and dryers. The blue Energy Star label is used to show an item’s efficiency. In fact, since 1992, products with the Energy Star label have reduced 2.5 billion tons of greenhouse gasses and also saved consumers a hefty amount of money on energy bills, $362 billion since 1992, in fact. Today, this program stands alone as the most successful energy conservation movement in history. Next time that you are shopping for a home appliance, be sure to look for the blue label.
Sustainable Smartphones
Apple is committed to looking out for the environment. That is why they have switched to using greener materials in their manufacturing process and have established a consumer-focused recycling initiative called ReNew. In 2015, 93 percent of the energy used by Apple came from renewable sources. But that’s not enough for the Cupertino-based business; they are striving for 100 percent. But Apple’s manufacturing isn’t the only thing that’s green about their business. Apple is also known for their streamlined packaging. More than 99 percent of the company’s packaging is recycled. They also have significantly less packaging than their competitors, which means less ends up in a landfill. Additionally, nothing for the iPhone or Apple Watch assembly lines ever makes it to a landfill, which makes the new iPhone a sustainable choice for green-minded smartphone users. Steady improvement can also be seen in the fact that the iPhone 7 Plus’ aluminum enclosure has reduced the greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent when compared with the emissions from manufacturing the iPhone 6 Plus.
Eco-Friendly TVs
The television is a standard fixture of the American living room; nearly everyone has one. However, when TVs are discarded into landfills, it can lead to some big problems. Many old TVs are built with toxic substances like lead, mercury and cadmium, which can wreak havoc on the environment if not disposed of properly. There are dozens of recycling programs across the country that dispose and recycle old TVs properly. A quick search on the EPA’s website can guide you in the right direction. Today, manufacturing has come a long way and TVs now, more than ever, are safer. Not only are they safer, they are better for the environment, too. Vizio’s D39h-D0 D-Series 39″ Class Full Array HD LED Smart TV is the most sustainable on the market today and highest-rated in energy-efficiency by Energy Star. Whether you’re in the market for a new TV or looking for a sustainable way to recycle, your choices can impact the Earth.
Green Gamers
Yes, even video game consoles leave a footprint. However, some, like Playstation, lead the way in sustainability. In fact, Playstation has a lower lifetime energy cost than its competitors and the Sony console has an energy-efficient score of 100, the highest mark there is available on the scale. To put that into perspective, Nintendo’s Wii achieved a 67. Playstation is certainly leading the way as an eco-minded example that we can only hope other companies follow.
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