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Article: PRODUCT DESIGN: Phones 4ever?
- Article from:
- Design Week
- Article date:
- July 3, 2008
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Centaur Communications Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Disposability - that bedrock of consumerism and bete noir of the Green movement - is rife in the mobile phone industry, sustained as it is by contracts offering perpetual upgrades. Scott Billings asks what role design plays in this environmental quagmire - is it complicit, or can it help stem the tide of electronic waste?
Electrical and electronic waste is the fastest-growing waste stream in the UK, with 1.8 million tonnes generated annually, according to the Government. It's easy to see why: an abundance of super-cheap goods has led us to view many products as practically disposable. It's easy to throw things away and replace them with newer, smarter ones ...