We all love shiny new electronics. But every new smartphone or laptop comes with baggage. Weighing climate dread, terrible working conditions, energy usage, and worries over hellish e-waste graveyards can quickly kill your excitement about shopping for a new gadget. None of us wants to be complicit, but what can we do if these issues concern us?
Sadly, there’s no easy way to find ethically manufactured and eco-friendly electronics. But there are things you can do to reduce any negative impact your purchases may have. Here are a few ideas we’ve compiled, with the help of Alex Crumbie, writer and researcher at Ethical Consumer, a UK magazine that ranks brands across various categories, from environmental reporting to workers’ rights.
Updated March 2026: I’ve conducted a new expert interview, added options for buying used or refurbished, added Framework laptops, and removed some older picks.
Table of Contents
Repair What You Have
The best way to minimize your impact is to avoid buying new devices if you can. The unpalatable truth is that every new gadget has a cost in manufacturing, shipping, operating life, and, eventually, waste. Most of the environmental impact comes from the manufacturing stage.
The carbon footprint of a smartphone decreases with each additional year it is used, according to Crumbie. To give an example, the carbon footprint of an iPhone 11 is 52.5 kg if you keep it for two years, but it drops to 35 kg if you keep it for three, and just 10.5 kg if you’re still using it a decade later.
It’s best to continue using what you already own or get devices repaired to extend their lifespan wherever possible. Thankfully, this is becoming easier with the US Federal Trade Commission voting to enforce the right to repair. Manufacturers like Apple and Samsung are starting to offer guides and repair kits, but there’s still a ways to go. If you want to check how repairable your gadgets are, iFixit has a guide, and it’s also a great place to find tutorials, instructions, and the necessary components and tools to fix your devices. You might even be able to rent iFixit kits from your local library, as one WIRED staffer found when looking to repair her Roomba.
Buy Used or Refurbished
“Buying secondhand is generally much better in terms of the environment, especially if it means something gets more life rather than going to landfill,” Crumbie says.
If your device is beyond repair, or you’re shopping for a new category of device you’re not very familiar with, consider buying used or refurbished tech. You can sometimes get a discount on devices often indistinguishable from brand-new ones. You won’t get as great a deal buying from somewhere like Apple’s Certified Refurbished store, but you can rest assured you will get a perfectly working device in as-new condition with a warranty. You might also check out Amazon Renewed or Best Buy Refurbished.
For deeper discounts, you’ll have to buy used from dealers or private sellers, but there’s more risk involved. Follow our advice on the best used tech to buy and check out our guides on how to buy a used phone and how to buy used devices on eBay to boost your chances of bagging a bargain while avoiding potential pitfalls.
Do Your Research
To manufacture electronic devices, companies need to source numerous materials and components, usually from various countries. That often means the mining and assembly take place in countries with low wages and scant protections for workers. Working out whether a device was produced in a fully ethical manner with no exploitation of workers or environmental damage is very tough.
What you can do is take a hard look at the manufacturer behind the device you want and consider which issues are most important to you. Ideally, the company will have strong policies on managing workers’ rights issues in the supply chain and sourcing materials in an eco-friendly way. Look for evidence on how a company is reducing its carbon emissions in line with science-based targets, and find out if it’s attempting to reduce harmful chemicals in its products. Also, consider tax avoidance and policy transparency.
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