4 reasons why our Environment can't take so many Apple iPhones | Sustainability Analysis

This is a sustainability analysis of an Apple iPhone. Every year, 1.5 billion new smartphones arrive on the market. Although, they are not all iPhones, I wanted to find out how an iPhone is made and see if the planet can take 1.5 billion new similar devices every year. I go through the minerals extracted from the earth's crust, the substances and chemicals produced by society, the impacts on our environment and ecosystems and the social aspects.
0:00 Intro
1:04 #1: what is extracted from the Earth's crust
4:11 #2: what is produced by society
6:51 #3: what physically degrades nature
7:48 #4: social aspects
9:25 Conclusion
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More sustainability videos on www.sustainabilityillustrated.com & / learnsustainability
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Extra info & links below...
Twitter: / sustain_illustr
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Videos are created by Alexandre Magnin using years of experience drawing and working as a sustainability consultant with businesses and communities: www.amcreative.org
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Credits & resources:
What’s In Your Apple iPhone: • What’s In Your Apple i...
Statista.com
iPhone 11 Environmental Report: www.apple.com/environment/pdf...
Music & sound effects from www.epidemicsound.com/
This video uses free titles, callouts, infographics and ink transitions from Simple Video Making, his channel is here: / @simplevideomaking
Photos by:
David Švihovec (iPhone in thumbnail), Dominik Vanyi, Carles Rabada, Laura Ockel, Jayme Mccolgan, Oliur, Charles Deluvio, Bagus Hernawan, Sebastian Pichler, Yulian Alexeyev and Vinoth Ragunathan on Unsplash.
3D Animation Production Company, Pete Linforth and Hurk on Pixabay.

[@learnsustainability]

Which smartphone 📱do you use? How often to you change it? Please let me know how you feel 🌎about these devices in the comments below...

[@catherineweetman2834]

Fairphone 2, since 2016 (though I am on mic #5!)

[@learnsustainability]

@@catherineweetman2834 Good for you! I assume it meets your needs just fine, doesn't it?

[@DomDEngineer]

I use a Samsung S6 (2015) using the latest Android 10 (2020). I don't think we give enough credits to programmers for being sustainability agents by disrupting planned obsolescence.

[@sabrinapaulin5938]

I've had my Motorola z play since the end of 2016. It still runs wonderfully and is still is perfect (1 scratch on the screen, that's it) condition considering the rough life it has had.

[@learnsustainability]

@@sabrinapaulin5938 Good for you! See how long you can keep it until you have to change it.

[@davidlozano9974]

This page does not get NEARLY the amount of views and credit it deserves for the quality, informative, educational content that it delivers!

[@learnsustainability]

Thanks a lot David! I will keep working hard at it as long as people watch them 😁

[@stellarcon96]

A thoughtful, well executed analysis of supply chain and energy impacts. Leasing IPhones - great idea!

[@learnsustainability]

Thanks for taking the time to send feedback!

[@simplesustainability]

Fantastic analysis! Isn't it convenient how a company's environmental due diligence often doesn't extend to its supply chains ..

[@learnsustainability]

Yes! Glad you liked it!

[@rethinkglobal8036]

Brilliant, thank you Alex for another excellent illustration of what we need to change, for a better world (with enough for all of us, for ever)

[@learnsustainability]

Cheers! I appreciate it.

[@Montessori_daytoday]

A great analysis, thank you Alex! In my opinion, e-cars analysis could be very interesting - the energy used to charge them, lifecycle of the batteries, etc

[@learnsustainability]

Totally agree! Thank you!

[@ZANTLOZ]

Could you make a comparison with the fairphone 3?

[@learnsustainability]

Good idea! In the original script I mentioned Fairphone and Samsung at the end but I had to cut it because it was too long. Fairphone is clearly better from a repairable stand point. Samsung and Apple are tied according to Corporate Knights www.corporateknights.com/channels/responsible-investing/sustainable-stock-showdown-apple-vs-samsung-15706340/

[@catherineweetman2834]

@@learnsustainability Brilliant video, thank you Alex - for the Fairphone/iPhone comparison, I wonder if you could include the repairability scores from iFixit.com too.

[@minhtamnguyen8055]

This was an awesome vid. I’m going to share it to my sustainability class. Very well made and very educational. Thank you!

[@learnsustainability]

Great! Thank you!

[@MsVeronicaMakeup]

Well done ... Amazing video

[@learnsustainability]

Cheers! Glad you liked it!

[@CarlaValdetaro]

Kudos to you! This video can be understood by the regular guy, who didn't study life cycle analysis!

[@learnsustainability]

Thanks Carla! I am glad to hear that as I tried to make the analysis rigorous while accessible to most people... which was... challenging 😊

[@CarlaValdetaro]

@@learnsustainability It IS challenging! I'm starting a blog to do this (in portuguese) and I have a method: I ask to my daughter read what I wrote. She is 31, knows a lot about environmental issues but hate the subject, what she explains like this: I grew up listening to environmental this and that. If she reads and says "boring" I know I have to change:)

[@learnsustainability]

@@CarlaValdetaro Nice one! Thanks for the tip!

[@daleonpz]

dude! such a great work! keep doing it! I learned a lot Alex 👍

[@learnsustainability]

Thanks! Very much appreciated 😁

[@catherineweetman2834]

Alex, thank you for another brilliant, informative, easy to understand and compelling video. I shall share (already a Patron :-))

[@learnsustainability]

Thanks Catherine! For your comment and support. Glad you like it!

[@michelm6933]

Excellent work Alex. Such intense effort and research into material, environment and other field to provide us with these powerful information. Great respect and keep going.

[@learnsustainability]

I am glad you found it useful! And thanks for leaving a message, it's very much appreciated!

[@ESGXLive]

This is a really interesting analysis - and extremely well presented. Well don!

[@learnsustainability]

Thanks! Very much appreciated!

[@sabrinapaulin5938]

Hello. Amazing video as always :) I would love to see an analysis of batteries. Lithium ion batteries are everywhere now and I think it would be interesting to see the life cycle and environmental effects they have.

[@learnsustainability]

Great suggestion! Will definitely add that to my list. Thanks for your comment!

[@alimbeveridge3344]

Thanks for a great video, Alex! could you do something like this for the Tesla Model 3?

[@learnsustainability]

Yes. It has been suggested to me, it is on my list, I just have not had the time yet 😊

[@clogsworth456]

Super cool video! It would be cool to see you do this for something like makeup or fast fashion.

[@learnsustainability]

Definitely!! That's a great idea! Thanks.

[@Podsedneck]

This was an awesome video Alex. I just stumbled upon it wondering how sustainable this mass manufacturing really is. It's concerning, good analysis, great art

[@learnsustainability]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping by 😊

[@abdulfatahsarangani7527]

I hope you'll make a video about "Our Common Future."

[@learnsustainability]

Do you mean the book published in 1987? What part about it would you find interesting to cover in a whiteboard video?

[@MichaelBrawn]

A video on televisions, cars, appliances would be great! Merci!

[@learnsustainability]

Good ideas, thank you!

[@michellemorin6922]

My kid would like you to make a video like this one for Samsung phone. Great job !

[@taurus7228]

Hello. Any mention about the lithium battery. I believe it is much to factor in. I’m looking for shares regarding the carbon footprint of batteries in iphones. Thank you Ashv

[@learnsustainability]

Yes, 1) the battery represents a good chunk of the 79% of CO2 emissions from production of the iPhone and 2) Lithium is a limited resource and we will need to recycle lithium batteries for them to be sustainable.

[@alexcorreia7547]

Desrves more views!!!!

[@learnsustainability]

Thanks! Share it 😄 and trust the KZbin algorithm will show it to people...

[@jacobnunya808]

Let's be honest the envionmental impact of smartphones is relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. They have some bad stuff in them but considering the amounts in a smartphone I would not be too concerned. If you want to save the environment get a small house, buy a used or efficient car, take cold showers, eat cheap foods, don't buy junk, get used things, etc etc. That stuff would be way better for the environment than almost anything you could do with your phone.

[@learnsustainability]

I am not sure I agree with that but thanks for your sharing your opinion! ☺️ As explained in the video, what is unsustainable is the systematic nature of everything increasing all the time and consuming always more energy that we can't produce sustainably yet. And although this video is about smartphones, you can't isolate them unfortunately. It is also tablets, computers, cars, kid's toys, clothes, you name it... and the fact we don't seem to be able to keep all these products in closed loop circles.

[@inesjunge970]

Guess what, there are people living/trying to live on these tiny footprint/consumption measures you describe, AND do research how to transition to a sustainable smartphone production and consumption in whole of society. Btw this research happens in rich European countries, the one always crying "Oh we are so small, what can we achieve? Nobody will follow our example, and we few people have no impact :(" and the other (big) country stating "Yes we might lead the way, but, no, we can't do that alone, we don't have that much impact onto the world!" So, who the hack wants to go first?

[@inesjunge970]

@@learnsustainability Thank you so much for this educative video, I'll have to build it in into one or the other seminar/course :) Next video could be about exactly those pioneers (Fairphone, Shiftphone, maybe also the Puzzlephone startup), and the need for a first mover AND some first followers to create a movement (see the VPRO documentary about Fairphone). Cheers!

[@learnsustainability]

@@inesjunge970 Cheers! Thanks for your suggestions!

[@carterobrien]

Excellent analysis. I have an old iPhone SE (2014, I think) that I prefer as it is actually the size of an old school mobile phone and not a ginormous tablet disguised as a handheld device. Apple in all of their wisdom discontinued this model. Right to Repair legislation is desperately needed, and Apple stockholders are going to need to really ask if Apple's socially responsible marketing squares with their planned obsolescence business model which is straight out of the 1950s General Motors playbook.

[@learnsustainability]

Agreed! Thanks for your comment!

[@gabrielamyot1744]

yo what program does this guy use?

[@learnsustainability]

I don't use an animation software. I draw on Photoshop and record my screen in video with a screen recorder. I did a tutorial video explaining my process: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4TLqoyQr5Vonbs

[@greenneko]

This was exactly what I was looking for, thanks a lot. I would love it to see an equivalent analysis for the other big companies, like Samsung and Xiaomi!

[@learnsustainability]

Cool! I'm glad that was useful to you. It is on my list to do other big companies. I am afraid Samsung would not be that different, except for the details of the sustainability reporting. But electric cars, clothing and other big companies are coming...

[@thewanderingwizard4624]

What is the environmental impact of card games like Pokemon and magic the gathering? It is my understanding the cardboard from most collectible card games is not recyclable and are produced by the millions. There are also tons of plastic products made to use with the cards for protection which are technically a consumable item that is non recyclable...

[@learnsustainability]

That's a really good idea! I'll add it to my list. Thanks for sharing!

[@FirstGigawattDown]

Great video! What would make it even better is a discussion of repairability. Right to repair laws are something we can push for in our world. Also, about the social aspect of phone impact, you MUST check out Tristan Harris discussion of how they hack human vulnerabilities: kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4LLY3mHbLKNmqM Thanks again for your great work!

[@learnsustainability]

Cheers! Repairability and upgradability would make a big difference for sure! And thanks for the link.

[@enigma2128]

If they are concerned about the climate, why not intergrate with other cooperation instead of dividing phone industries by using unconventional concepts of general needs of a phone. It's not only convenient for everyone, it impact environmental issues by reducing factories that makes special things for a special phone

[@LookzA]

If you want to make iphone sustainable then let people repair their phones

[@learnsustainability]

That would be a big help for sure. Apparently Apple is not making any progress though and the iPhone 12 is as bad as its predecessors with a 6/10 repairability score on iFixit www.ifixit.com/Teardown/iPhone+12+and+12+Pro+Teardown/137669