Fairphone is a small Dutch company startup that has big plans to change the way phones are built, not only in design but also through the resources involved in production, notably free from conflict minerals. Fairphone has managed to be the first company to ship a fully modular smart phone.
The Fairphone 2 is the companies second offering of a phone that is not only better for the environment but also better for the people through the supply chain.
So, this time, they have fixed the supply chains in a way that attacks the problem directly: consumerism. Basically, instead of you buying a new phone or upgrading your device every year, Fairphone want you to get to understand your phone, repair it yourself and keep it in use for as long as possible. This will minimise the use of conflict minerals and reduce the environmental impact that happens during production stage. So, of course, if you are using it for twice as long then the impact reduced can be doubled also.
Conflict minerals are materials mined in poor conditions, usually where human rights abuses are rampant in parts of the world that have historically been unstable.
Places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo are commonly used to source these materials, including copper, gold and tin, which have a huge impact on the people involved in the supply chain.
Fairphone are constantly working to improve on every part of the design and production of their devices and have successfully sourced conflict-free tin and tantalum from The Congo for this, its second phone.
So, to summarise. If you care about where you spend your money and what impact it has on the environment and human rights then this could be the phone for you. I really hope that this is the start of a new habit where companies are not doing their best to lock you out of your own device
You can order Fairphone 2 today for €529.38 ready for January, but it is currently only available in Europe.