Making the Case For Environmentally-Friendly Phone Cases
What’s all the buzz about sustainable phone cases?
Hint: it isn’t your phone vibrating.
It’s high time we call out tech companies for their flimsy designs and planned obsolescence, which result in the average person upgrading their cell phone every two years.
Every upgrade means new accessories like chargers, cables, and phone cases—sometimes multiple for those who like to use cases as a means of self-expression.
And each time we upgrade our phone, we downgrade the environment by improperly recycling electronic waste (e-waste) and tossing old associated accessories into the bin where they take hundreds of years to break down.
By adopting a sustainable technology philosophy where we emphasize repairing instead of replacing, we can demonstrate that we want sustainable solutions, both in the form of ethical electronics themselves and their accessories.
Phone cases may be a tiny step toward making the tech sector more sustainable, but it is a step, nonetheless, towards sustainable living. Small steps collectively make a great impact.
How We Chose The Best Eco-Friendly Phone Cases
Phone cases are a bit like clothing accessories, so it seems appropriate that we judge them with similar criteria as sustainable and ethical fashion.
Namely, we want to see companies making a sustainable product as well as operating sustainably.
The most important thing to consider for a phone case is what it’s made with, which determines its end-of-life outcome.
Hey Siri, what are eco-friendly phone cases made of?
We broke up our list into three main categories of eco-friendly materials for sustainable phone cases:
Bioplastics:
Short for biodegradable plastics, these are plastic-like cases made from plant-based fibers. The most common types are made from corn starch, straw, flax, wheat, and bamboo.
While we love to see a phone case made from plants they don’t always break down faster than plastic, as purely natural materials may be coated and processed within petroleum based inputs.
Read up on the differences between biodegradable and compostable and look for the manufacturer’s specs on end-of-life disposal before buying one of these cases.
If they don’t specify it’s home compostable, don’t toss it in the backyard pile.
Also pay attention to other components, like bumpers and lining materials. Bumpers can be made of things like rubber and TPE. If it’s natural rubber, it can be composted, but if not, you’ll still have to disassemble the case.
Cork:
Purely natural materials make for the best eco-friendly phone cases because they will safely biodegrade and return to the earth in a reasonable amount of time (AKA they’re usually compostable).
Cork phone cases fit that bill to a T (Mobile).
Not only are they totally compostable, but also renewable, since cork is harvested by shaving bark from cork trees, a process that can be repeated every decade or so.
This process also helps fight climate change because each time the tree has to regrow its bark, it consumes CO2 to do so.
Bamboo:
Bamboo fabric has been getting lots of buzz, both positive and negative, leaving many people asking, “Are bamboo phone cases sustainable?”
As with most things made of bamboo, the answer depends.
As long as it’s sustainably harvested from well-managed forests that don’t contribute to the endangerment of animals (namely pandas), then yes, the type of bamboo used in phone cases is sustainable.
It doesn’t require toxic plasticizers (as bamboo-derived viscose fabrics used in clothing production does) and is a fast-growing, minimally water consumptive, and highly carbon consumptive crop.
Hardwoods:
Look for those either sourced from reclaimed lumber, storm-damaged or diseased trees, or that come from responsibly managed forests.
A sustainable forestry certification can help you pick out these companies.
While hardwoods are natural, many of the cases are not immediately compostable. You would need to remove additional components and chip it into much smaller pieces—and that’s providing it doesn’t have an epoxy or some other non-natural resin coating.
Recycled materials:
Ever wonder, “Can phone cases be recycled?”
They sure can, AND they can be recycled back into new phone cases made of recycled materials.
We can’t take the plastic back that’s already been produced, but we can reuse and upcycle it into beautiful recycled phone cases. While these are often still plastic, it’s better to make use of plastic waste already polluting our planet and oceans.
What about screen protectors?
If you’re the type of person that manages to drop their phone perfectly face down and shatter their screen even with a case, you might want to double your protection with a screen protector.
Instead of getting a flimsy plastic one (which really only protects against scratches anyway), invest in a tempered glass screen protector. These are far more crack-resistant, and they’re fully recyclable.
Other sustainable cell phone criteria:
Aside from eco-friendly cell phone case materials, we look for companies making ethical phone cases in safe environments and for fair wages. Unfortunately, the industry lacks a lot of transparency here still
Even the most sustainable cases still have a manufacturing impact, so we like brands that take that into account, whether with closed-loop processes, carbon offset programs, and renewable energy.
- Certifications: International Organization for Standardization (ISO 14001), Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), SGS
Final Thoughts On Eco-Friendly Cell Phone Cases
No one likes replacing their phone. Nor do they like deciphering a text message through a shattered screen.
Switching to environmentally friendly phone cases will not only save case waste, but tech waste, too, as they can greatly extend the life of your phone.
A win for your sustainable wallet and the planet.
But of course, always use what you have first. After all, the best sustainable phone cases are those that already exist.
If you broke your old case or simply upgraded to a new phone that no longer fits it, turn to these brands—especially since many also offer the option to recycle phone cases you no longer need.
If you know someone who has butter fingers, put out a call to action by sharing this list with them. The longer we can keep our phones alive, the less we’ll be contributing to e-waste.
