Would you like to phone a friend? Oh wait your phone broke. AGAIN.

The Green Fix DIY guide to repairing a broken tech industry.

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Look. It’s OK to not know.

On Friday, I spoke at a panel event in the European Parliament in Strasbourg on breaking into green careers. Because I guess I’m someone who sits on panels now?

A student in the audience asked ‘How did you... you know, do it? How do you end up sitting there working in sustainability?’

Man. What a trip. What a question to spark imposter syndrome and the jolting realisation that I had the same questions two years ago.

I wanted to tell that guy:

There are 50+ emails that start with ‘We regret to inform you…’ in my inbox. I scroll LinkedIn and see people younger than me doing Impressive-Sounding Things and feel the same pang of anxiety that I did as a student. That others are working harder. That everyone else has some secret about how to get their life together and I missed it because I was scrolling Instagram. That I better ‘make it’ in the next 7 years.

Success is nothing. It’s an abstract concept, some ever-shifting goalposts. I’m doing my ‘dream job’. I still get rejected. I still think that the void of Failure will catch up with me one day. But it’s an illusion. There is no missed memo.

You are already succeeding. Showing up at events. Applying again after another rejection. It’s OK not to know when it will pay off, or if they will at all. Yes, we’re in an unfair system and sometimes you’ll do everything right and still fail just because the world sucks. But all the stress, frustration, disappointment - I promise it’s not for nothing.

So, to that guy: I bet you didn’t expect the panellist to think about your question all week and write about it in the newsletter. The things you do are having an impact already. So keep it up.

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What’s Going On?

• By the way, we have almost no time to prevent climate disasters. This is the top news, every day.
  Related: The IPCC report summary.

• More than 150 NGOs and experts call on the UN to better protect human rights in their environmental policy, ahead of major biodiversity conference.
  Related: Record numbers of environmental & land defenders killed in 2020.

• Environmental NGO Greenpeace block the ports of energy giant Shell in protest against fossil fuel advertising.
  Useful: Sign the petition to end fossil fuel advertising. Also - here’s why.

• The EU finally votes to make it easier for environmental defenders to challenge EU decisions that break environmental laws.
  Useful: What exactly was the problem before?

• United States wildlife department announces another 23 species are extinct.
  Related: Previous Green Fix editions on species extinction and biodiversity.

• The UN recognises the human right to a healthy environment.
  Related: The World Health Organisation urges climate action to save lives.

• Media outlet Carbon Brief releases new analysis of which countries are most historically responsible for climate change. Take a guess.
  Related: 5 things you should know about the inequality of carbon emissions.

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Focus On… the Right to Repair

Green Fix writer A.L. Ashkenaz talks to Right to Repair campaigner Chloé Mikolajczak about the fight for sustainable tech.

Chloe and the Right to Repair team at a Right to Repair protest.

What is right to repair?

Universal right to repair means that everyone should have the right to repair their product if they want to. 

All the big tech companies have big sustainability claims. But at the end of the day, it's just like fast fashion. No matter if your factory is powered by renewable energy: if you're selling products that have a really short lifespan or making it very hard for people to repair the products, then it’s not sustainable. 

This is why we're fighting for the right to repair. It makes the most sense from a sustainability perspective to extend the lifetime of a product, and it makes the most sense for the consumer because it saves them money.

It also makes sense from the perspective of jobs and resilient communities, because repairing allows us to develop certain skills and jobs.

How is it different from what we have right now, where you CAN get your phone fixed from independent repairers like iSmash in the UK?

Of course it's not illegal to get your phone repaired today. But manufacturers are making it increasingly difficult and expensive to repair their products. 

There's a whole range of techniques they are using. For instance, some manufacturers are using ‘proprietary tools’, tools that only belong to them. If you're an independent repairer and can't have access to these tools, you can’t repair it. 

The most recent threat we have identified is called parts pairing. Essentially it ties pieces of hardware, like the screen to software. For example, if your iPhone screen breaks and you have it repaired at an independent repair shop, the phone software will not recognise the new screen.

By using this technique they're essentially shutting out all independent repairers.

Whenever a new phone comes out nowadays, what many do is trade in their old phone. Where does that go?

53 million tonnes of e-waste are produced each year. Out of that, only 17% is recycled. Recycling can't keep up.

I'm not saying that recycling is bad. It's that recycling should be the very last step of the chain. When you can't repair, reuse, or refurbish, then yes, let's recycle. 

E-waste is now the fastest growing waste in the world. We need to recycle what we can recycle, but with electronics what we need to do is prevent them from becoming waste. 

Can you tell me what the 10 Year Phone is about?

The 10 Year Phone is a campaign we just launched.

Nearly 200 million smartphones are expected to be sold this year in Europe, so that's nearly 7 every second. Each time every one of these phones is made, it creates about 40-80 kilos of CO2. 

So we created this campaign, which is disguised as a fake product launch of a phone that would last for 10 years because of incredible characteristics such as being designed to repair, having batteries that are super easy to remove, software support that lasts 10 years, spare parts, and information that's accessible to everyone.

The idea of this fake phone is to attract people to the ‘launch’ website, and then when they try to buy it or find out more, we tell them that unfortunately the phone doesn’t exist because of intense lobbying from tech manufacturers, and because of the lack of repair policies we have in place.

This whole campaign is for a letter that we are writing to the European Commission which is co-signed by more than 30 thought leaders in the design and sustainability, repair, and digital rights sphere. 

Earlier you spoke of intense lobbying from big tech, what do you mean by that?

A recent report by Corporate Europe shows that big tech is now the biggest lobbying spender in Brussels. It’s not just about the right to repair, it also influences political decisions on big data, privacy, etc. 

DMA: Digital Markets Act. DSA: Digital Services Act. Source: CEO report.

In Europe, big tech lobbying is not only happening via their representatives, but they're also part of their larger trade associations or industry groups. They are very present in political meetings where they are trying to negatively influence product policies on eco-design that helps make them more sustainable. 

We have seen it in the past with other types of products like washing machines and dishwashers, lobbying did weaken the sustainability measures. The measures were more ambitious when they came out originally, but then through these meetings they were watered down by the industry. 

Most people replace their phone when it gets too slow, how would the 10 year phone address that?

Software support isn't always provided for a long period of time by manufacturers. Google actually stops its software support for its products after three years, which is very little.

Then of course you find that it slows down, and it can actually become a risk. We now live in a world where connected devices are becoming the norm, and if you don't have security updates in your product anymore, that can be a big problem.

This is why we are calling for an extension of software support for 10 years so you don't end up with a piece of hardware that's super slow or actually dangerous to use.

Aside from signing the petition, is there anything else we can do to support the right to repair?

We live in a world of very terrible news. Learning to repair is something tangible we can all do. 

It’s not just about reaching climate commitments or emissions reductions. It's also about community. If you need to fix your phone, you can visit your local repair cafe or you can pop by your local repair shop and say hi. Repairing is a super important skill that we need to learn if we really want to build resilient communities for the future.

You can support the 10 year phone campaign here and follow Right to Repair on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

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So Now What Do I Do?

LEARN MORE

• Read: Who made my smartphone?

• Take the quiz to find out how much you already know about the right to repair.

• Tune into the upcoming European Environmental Bureau webinar on 5 science-based ways to promote Europe’s green transition. 22nd October @ 11 CEST.

TRY SOMETHING NEW

• Under 30? Apply for the free Academy of Change for an intense training in how to create a sustainable social transformation. Deadline 24th October.

• Rewriting Extinction are looking for a volunteer to help with partnerships! Email hello@rewritingextinction.com for more information.

• Climathon is celebrating climate action in cities for a week in 25-30th October. Find your city and take part.

CHANGE THE SYSTEM

• Apply to be part of the Global Leadership Challenge for a week of training in practical tips to foster sustainable development as a young leader. Deadline 24th October.

• Youth & Environment Europe are holding a 2-day workshop on how to make cities greener on the 23rd-24th October. Register to join!

• Calling all women! Sign the 1 Million Women petition to call on the Prime Minister of Australia to commit to 50% emission cuts by 2030.

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By the way…

• The Green Fix is on Twitter now! Come follow us and say hi.

• Working on a cool sustainability project? Want a shoutout? Or just seen something you think deserves a mention in the Green Fix? Tell us about it.

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Stay in the loop

You can connect with me on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also follow the Green Fix Twitter and LinkedIn page here for more climate opportunities.

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