Fairphone : pioneering an ethical, sustainable technology for the future?
. Image via fairphone.com .
Is there blood in my mobile?
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The answer is yes, there probably is.
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And in your laptop, camera and TV too.
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Minerals such as tin, tantalum and tungsten are key ingredients in the make up of our electronics, sourced predominantly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where government and rebel militias fight for control of the mines. Profits from illicit mining practices end up in the hands of violent groups, who loot, enslave and rape the locals and recruit their children as soldiers. These profits perpetuate further violence, and finance an ongoing conflict which has caused almost 6 million deaths since 1998. 6 million deaths. That’s not far off the tragic death toll of the holocaust. Once the minerals have been smuggled out of the DRC, they are then supplied to the big companies that we all know and love – Samsung, Sony, Canon - who use them in their electronics. Our electronics.
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In addition to the use of conflict minerals, reports of unfair labour practices also plague the electronics industry. Foxconn for example, a company with past and present links to companies including Apple, HP, Sony, Nintendo and more, has been particularly criticised, with a startling rate of suicides amongst workers. Recognising that some improvements were in order, Foxconn responded to the problem by generously installing ‘prevention nets’ to catch any pesky suicide attempters.
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So, big bad corporations are exploiting people in order to satisfy their consumers at the highest possible profit. This is hardly a groundbreaking revelation. That in itself is unsettling; it has become pretty much normalised that our vast demand for everything and anything will inevitably come at a human cost. But the question we can ask ourselves is, if everyone knows about the human cost of our electronics (and clothes, and shoes, and toys, and food, and oil and tobacco…), why isn’t anyone doing anything about it? Is it because we don’t care, or because we don’t know how?
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Official trailer for Frank Poulsen's 'Blood in the Mobile' documentary.
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After watching Frank Poulsen’s documentary ‘Blood in the Mobile’ exposing the horrors of the mobile industry in relation to the DRC, I wanted to throw my phone into the road and watch as passing cars smashed it into smithereens, then bury the remnants in a very large hole and forget that I had ever played a part in fueling such atrocities. The small problem with that though is that, realistically, in the society I live in, it would be altogether very difficult and impractical to be phoneless.
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So crossing the option of becoming a technology vegan off the list, I began to search for an alternative to my bloodstained Samsung galaxy S3 after it packed in. Buying a second hand phone was an option that wouldn’t exacerbate the problem any further. But a better solution I found lay with the new social enterprise, Fairphone. This is the first smartphone made with the specific commitment of using conflict-free minerals from DRC, and of fair conditions for assembly workers in China. It is more ecologically friendly as it uses sustainable materials, and reinvests a percentage of its profits in future initiatives, such as technology recycling (E-waste being another major global issue which isn’t going away by itself). Plus, it’s a very cool phone too.
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The Fairphone
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So if Fairphone can produce a phone which isn’t perpetuating conflict and violence, why can’t the other companies? I’m no economist, but this is simple supply and demand. Companies violate human rights because it saves them money, and allows them to fulfill consumer demands at the highest possible profits. They do it because we tell them to.
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But what if we tell them not to? Consumer pressure has already lead Apple to start cleaning up its act regarding Foxconn, although reports suggest that problems are still ongoing. Apple has also confirmed its use of conflict free tantalum and, just recently in February 2014, it has begun to publicise which of its suppliers are sourcing from conflict zones.
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By pressuring our favourite companies or investing in a social enterprise like Fairphone, we are revealing that there is a market for ethical electronics. This will encourage other companies to follow suit; to profit from a new found niche. The very essence of being a consumer is about making choices, and therefore as consumers, we can choose to demand change. It’s up to us to show that we do actually care about where our stuff comes from and who suffered along the way in its making.
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Sarah Crowe