top of page
Conclusion
Looking Globally
Currently, there are approximately one billion active iPhone users around the world. We cannot understand the true social and environmental impacts of a consumer good as ubiquitous as an iPhone, without taking the time to examine the supply chain along which it was developed, used, and discarded.
We cannot truly appreciate or understand. . .
. . . the 8 grams of cobalt in our iPhone, without understanding the two tons carried out of mine shafts every day by Congolese miners for $2 or $3 a day.
. . . the worker who screwed the back panel screws in for 12 hours a day on 300-400 iPhones.
. . . the 500,000 new iPhones that are produced by Foxconn alone each day and the subsequent 416,000 iPhones that are discarded every day
. . . the individuals who work scouring landfills for precious metals and end up exposing themselves to dangerous health risks along the way
The iPhone is simply one consumer good produced by one company. And yet, in its production, it manages to affect countless different people in a diverse array of countries. If we look to understand the impact that this one good has on so many individuals, and then conceptualize that to the countless products we consume every day, we will be able to grasp a much better understanding of the impacts our behavior has on the social and environmental well-being of others and the planet.
bottom of page