Causecast

by SARAH NELSON, Contributing Writer

My iPhone and I just celebrated our first anniversary together. That’s right – for the first time I have spent an entire year with a single mobile device and we are still going strong. I have commitment issues, what can I say. Before I met iPhone, I was constantly swapping out mobile phones – at least one a year or whenever I could finagle my way out of paying retail for the newest, most efficient technology. Do you know what comes with every mobile phone you purchase? A new, and completely different, phone charger. We can’t just throw the old charger away, so what do we do? Throw it in the junk drawer with the ten other phone chargers that also no longer serve a purpose.

Not exactly the most resourceful use of our outdated electronics. It’s not just me though, globally we dispose of 51,000 tons of useless cell phone chargers each year, translating to millions of tons of carbon waste. Recognizing the need to cut back on the waste, the European Union has become one of the first governing bodies to urge mobile phone manufacturers to develop a universal charger to eliminate the outrageous waste produced by obsolete phone chargers.

A new universal charger was approved this week by the International Telecommunication Union (a branch of the United Nations), choosing the micro-USB adapter as the universal mobile device charger. The new chargers will be considerably more energy efficient than current chargers, creating a reduction of nearly 14 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

While the new technology will not be “forced” on cell phone manufacturers, it will be available for them to adopt as they produce new phones in 2010. Sony Ericsson plans to implement the universal charger with their 2010 products. The GSM Association (the group responsible for the 3G network) estimates that the technology will be made widely available by mid-2012.

As for my iPhone and me, we’re pretty committed. But if things do fizzle out, I’ll rebound with a new iPhone because the next generation Apple device will definitely be making the upgrade to the universal charger.

Before you replace your current mobile device, think about waiting a few months. By this time next year, you can replace your phone and never have to purchase another charger again.

For more information on what devices are currently compatible, visit GSM World. The current list is short, but will grow within the next year. A note to the inquiring quasi-techno-savvy: yes, micro-USB and mini-USB are totally different.

Photo by uxud, flickr.