You may be able to fix your old iPhone, so don’t buy a new one just yet. Your wallet and the planet will thank you. 

Related on EcoSalon 
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The post Watch this Before You Buy the New iPhone [Video] appeared first on EcoSalon.

Apple has learned how to salvage all the expensive, reusable parts from your old iPhone. And its “harvesting” technique — excuse us, buddy — is pretty cool.

Liam is a robot created to disassemble an iPhone after it doesn’t work anymore. Watch this short video about Liam and the work the robot does below.

Related on EcoSalon

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The post Liam is Apple’s Best Recycler [Video] appeared first on EcoSalon.

Apple is deifying the new iWatch, according to Russell Brand. Find the slow-mo Apple promo video erotic? Of course you do. Apple owns your ass, right Russell? He nails the brand for crimes such as hoarding enough cash off-shore to “literally end world poverty.” It’s a must-watch (see what I did there?). 

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

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The post OMG! Russell Brand’s Rant About the iWatch is Priceless [Video] appeared first on EcoSalon.

Filmmaker, actor, artist and writer Miranda July can now add “techie” to her hat rotation.

The Los Angeles-based eccentric has created a new social media app, which she calls Somebody. And it’s about as awkward as you’d expect a Miranda July project to be.

According to W Magazine, July had an idea that she began to obsess over: “I’d been telling everyone about it, and trying to figure it out how to get it made.”

The idea is simple, for a Miranda July project, anyway. Using Somebody, the app sends your text to another person other than whom it was intended for. Instead, it goes to the next nearest person. The onus is then on that person—a potential stranger—to deliver the text in real life to your recipient. How they know who you are isn’t clear, and probably part of the goal. Standing inside a crowded venue could mean walking up to a dozen strangers before finding the correct recipient.

“The app makes people do things they normally wouldn’t do,” July told W. “It can get outrageous. I do like the fact that it creates these ephemeral experiences, but I also hope that some people will document their message deliveries, just so I can see them.”

If it doesn’t sound all that awkward, just imagine, for example, Miranda July walking up to you and shouting “LOL!” in your face. Out of context (in response to a funny kitty picture you texted your BF) it would seem strange, if not downright scary. But that’s just July’s point and her hopes of bridging our real life worlds with the tech bubbles we all live inside. Just how weird can we get? For July, it seems there are still no limits.

The project is sponsored by Miu Miu and presented by the New Museum and you can snag the app on iTunes.

Find Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Related on EcoSalon

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Image: Cameron Wittig

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This week’s Link Love…what can we say, we’re NOT in London at any of the 22 sold outKate Bush concerts. So the NY Times review will have to do. That plus a radical house that will produce more energy than it took to build, outdoor entertaining musts, the return of Mod and the latest iPhone is almost here. 

Barbecue and party must-haves. [via Organic Authority]

A house that takes less energy to build than it will eventually make? R-A-D. [via Treehugger]

Mod is back…if it ever left. [via W magazine]

Kate Bush’s first live performance in 35 years. [via the New York Times]

The iPhone 6 rumors are true. [via Mashable]

Related on EcoSalon

Link Love: Chinchilla Freedom + Solar Windows + Topshop’s Latest Recycled Collection

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Image via the New York Times

The post Link Love: The Return of Mod + Kate Bush + iPhone 6 is Coming Soon! appeared first on EcoSalon.

The release of iOS 7 brought new colors, 3D effects, and enough change to make us think we had a brand new iPhone. While the  iOS 7 time stamps are cool– yes, now you can see time stamps for every text, and many love the compass app that shows you, complete with bubbles, how level a surface is, iTunes Radio is by far the greatest part of the update. 

iTunes Radio is basically a replacement for every other music app you currently have sitting on your phone. It’s also possible that you can now ditch Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and all of those other streaming music apps you tried out and only used once.  Here are 5 reasons iTunes Radios is the best part of iOS 7.

1.  More ’90s Hits

With iOS 7, iTunes Radio allows you to select from over 25 genres ranging from the “Best Mix of the 70s, 80s, 90s, and Today!” under Adult Contemporary (which also includes 340 other streams) to College/University, Eclectic, Hip Hop, Talk Radio, and 84 streams of ’90s hits. With this new iTunes, there is essentially no reason to use other music providers, especially those that charge fees to stream music.

2.  10 Million More Songs Than Pandora

If you are familiar with other music streaming options, you have likely run into the frustration of finding the perfect channel, only to end up, ten songs later, listening to songs that either don’t fit the category. “Um, so why is Skrillex playing on my Beyonce station?” With iTunes Radio, this is less likely to happen – like ten million times less likely, because while services such as Pandora can spin a million songs, iTunes Radio can spin tens of millions.

3.  Guest DJ Katy Perry

iTunes Radio has also set up various special events and DJs for their Featured Stations with celebrities like Katy Perry, Jared Leto. On Katy Perry’s station for example, you get occasional commentary such as an introduction to her new single, Dark Horse (feat. Juicy J), and TMI about how she and her boyfriend make out to Drake. You can then decide to “Play More Like This” “Never Play This Song” or “Add to iTunes Wish List.” iTunes with iOS 7 has also made it extremely convenient to immediately purchase the songs you are listening to. Perhaps even too convenient.

4.  History of Songs

Okay, so maybe it’s just Apple’s way of getting me to purchase every song that plays on the Lisa Lisa Cult Jam station, but I love that the new iTunes radio records your history, and every song you’ve listened to is available for purchase. This is handy when you’re running like mad on the treadmill and have no clue what the name of that song was that you listened to 20 songs ago.

In the old days, if you missed the name of the song playing on the radio, you were basically SOL unless you could somehow get through to the radio station to ask them. And no one normal did that. To find the list of songs you’ve listened to in iTunes Radio, press the History button next to iTunes Radio. This is also where you will find your Wish List.

5.  Share Stations With Friends

There is currently no way to share specific songs through Facebook or Twitter, but who needs to tweet that they’re listening to “She Don’t Use Jelly,” anyway? However, if you do want to share a specific station, such as ’90s Alternative Radio, you can text, email, tweet, or share the link to the station on Facebook. This is done by selecting the circled “i” at the top of the song screen. This is also where you will find the options to create a station by artist.

You will likely find more reasons to love iTunes Radio once you get in there and start discovering new songs and setting up your Songs to Make Out To stations. While the iOS 7 update was long and scary for some of us who wondered if our iPhone might be stuck forever in update mode, the new iTunes Radio totally made it worth freaking out about. In a good way.

Related on EcoSalon:

Are Smart Appliances Worth the Investment?

5 Mobile Apps for a Non-Toxic Lifestyle

Music on the Go: Explore the New Indie Shuffle iPhone App

Photo Credits: mizzicatto and Cmajaski

The post iOS 7 Is Here: 5 Reasons We Love The New iTunes Radio appeared first on EcoSalon.

Ah, there’s nothing like getting out into nature with nothing else but…your iPhone…

Welcome to the Modern World where to be smart phone-less is to be, well…unmodern. We use our devices for everything: maps, weather and traffic checks, finding great food, entertainment, and even, a little bit of the way the world was before we dug it all up and covered it with concrete.

Yes, the iPhone is good for more than just connecting you with a bunch of Angry Birds…how about letting it connect you with just plain old actual birds?

Meet Indeterminate Hikes+ a smart phone app created by professors at the University of Rochester in New York. The goal is to help us change our views of urban nature while helping users to better understand the way cities have evolved.

Cary Peppermint and Leila Nadir co-founded EcoArtTech, which focuses on bridging technology and environmentalism. The duo work with other artists and organizations, reports Utne, and Indeterminate Hikes+ is the latest offering from the collaboration.

IH+ works with Google Maps creating hiking paths in urban areas. Once downloaded to your smart phone, you enter in your target start and end locations. The app then generates “random” path routes that include a variety of activities focused on honing the user into nature along the way. “The prompts increase awareness of the environment where you live and also cause social interactions—you’re using the technology to reconnect with space instead of people,” according to Peppermint.

“Wilderness is all around you and the app encourages users to give the same attention to inner city parks and rain gutters that we do to landscapes like canyons and gorges,” said Nadir. The hikes are designed for groups of two or more (although you can certainly do one alone) and there are prompts from the app as well, encouraging users to take pictures at key spots (of environmental or historical significance). You may be asked to write a field note and perform other “socially interactive” tasks to enrich the walk and better observe nature.

Keep in touch with Jill on Twitter @jillettinger

Image: D’La Crux

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ColumnIn our modern, technology filled world, we’re busy, and so we cut corners, but food shouldn’t be one of them.

Checking your iPhone during dinner is rude (well, unless you’re food porning it up… and even then, there are limits). But what’s worse? Making your iPhone your dinner partner.

That’s right food lovers, you can now buy a bowl for ramen that magically connects your iPhone so that you can surf and text and check your updates while you’re slurping down a bowl of hot noodle broth. Great! Why enjoy your meal when you could be reading your email?

In the midst of articles about farmers markets, CSAs and urban gardens, it’s discoveries like this that give me cause for concern, particularly about our future as a society. Not because hip food cities may soon be filled with ramen/iPhone bars (isn’t there an app that turns your phone into a set of chopsticks??), but because it’s an indicator of a larger cultural dilemma.

We live in a fast-paced world, where work is longer and meals are shorter. We trade the conference room for the dinner table, and soon eating is just another task in the day; something to be checked off of a to-do list.

We’re busy and so we cut corners, but food shouldn’t be one of them. Seeking out devices to replace the fact that we aren’t sitting around a table with family or friends is not only depressing, it’s a sign of the times: we live in a world where eating is an afterthought–something that we know we must do, just like we must wash the dishes and we must go to work.

But if we take the pleasure and ceremony out of eating, what are we left with? A world where good food isn’t honored and fast food is the norm. There’s a causal relationship between our high octane modern world and our path towards a public health epidemic: we don’t take time to eat, much less honor the process, gather with friends, celebrate the food in front of us and the company around us. Put an emphasis back on living life, and maybe food politics falls in place right behind.

We complain that dinner takes time and energy to prepare; but aren’t we lucky enough to be taking a moment to work with our hands and produce something that sustains us? Somewhere our relationship to food went askew – instead of flavor and sustenance we chose efficiency and in turn have created a system where taste is in fact the last criteria that is used in most food that is grown. Genetically modified tomatoes that grow into squares so that they pack better? Why not?

Food is one of the few moments in the day where we can disconnect. Remove ourselves from our digital lives and appreciate something physical and tangible. An all-senses affair. If we want to change the world of food, maybe we need to start thinking about our own interactions with it first. Are we present? Are making something or merely hitting the “warm up” button? Do we make time for food or is it an afterthought?

A good friend emailed me in reference to last week’s column where I said that cooking is our thirty minutes a day to disconnect from everything else and merely commit to the creation of a single thing:

“My face fell at the idea of spending a mere 30 minutes cooking each day. Try as I might I spend far more than 30 minutes preparing food each day. I’d better start working towards more efficiency in the kitchen. All those hours add up in a hurry. And what did you do with your life, Mrs. Bryan?”

I responded simply by saying  “If all you did in your life, Mrs. Bryan, was spend time in the kitchen making amazing things and being aware of your surroundings, I would say that that is a life well lived.”

Good food doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does have to be conscious. If not, we risk a world in which real food disappears, and that is a world that is certainly not conducive to living well.

This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’ weekly column at EcoSalon: Foodie Underground, an exploration of what’s new and different in the underground movement, and how we make the topic of good food more accessible to everyone. More musings on the topic can be found at www.foodieunderground.com.

Photo Credit: MisoSoupDesign

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Cell phones are changing the world, in both good ways and bad.

Last week’s highly-anticipated release of the iPhone 5 signaled to the world that despite a global recession, the cell phone industry shows no signs of slowing down. It is estimated that 85 percent of the world’s population currently has access to a mobile phone, and a new report by Ericsson predicts that by 2017, that same percentage will have access to 3G mobile Internet.

This level of global connectivity and access to information is unprecedented in human history, and social entrepreneurs are quick to jump on mobile technology as a solution to problems like poverty, inequality, and disease. At the same time, the cell phone industry has come under fire for its use of potentially harmful materials, questionable labor practices, and manipulative marketing schemes that encourage disposability, planned obsolescence, and unnecessary consumption. This week’s Behind the Label weighs the benefits of mobile technology against the downsides of the cell phone industry.

In 1983, Motorola released the first mobile telephone, futuristically dubbed the DynaTAC 8000X. The $3995 phone was almost comical in its heft (2 pounds) and design (remember cordless phones?). However, the release of the phone forecasted a future in which people could be connected, even when they were on the go.

Through the 1990s and early 2000s, phones became smaller, slimmer, and more affordable. Companies like Nokia, Motorola, and Kyocera led the charge with models that blended form and function (who could forget Nokia’s funky removable faceplates?). At the same time, companies like Palm, Handspring, and Blackberry began developing mobile devices that doubled as personal digital assistants.

This evolution and proliferation of cell phones set the stage for Apple‘s release of the first-generation iPhone smartphone in early 2007. The phone’s sleekness, simplicity, and functionality made it an instant game-changer, one that continues to spark rumors and draw record sales with every new release.

The Good

The spread of mobile technology, particularly in the developing world, makes the cell phone a useful tool for tackling global issues. In a recent article, Mashable highlighted five ways that mobile is the future of sustainable development:

• Disease response, with the example of how using phones to report malaria outbreaks has cut response time from four weeks to three minutes in Africa.
• Education through gamification, with the example of how the new Half the Sky mobile games teach women valuable health and business skills.
• Monitoring government accountability, with the example of how SMS messages can be used to track government absenteeism and improve services in Karnataka, India.
• Preserving the rainforest, with the example of an Android app that is helping members of an Amazon jungle tribe measure their land’s carbon stock and sell carbon offsets.
• Disaster response, with the example of a Red Cross app that helps teach emergency preparedness.

These are just a few ways that mobile has had an impact in the developing world. But even in the developed world, cell phones have yielded benefits. Remember when you couldn’t call a friend to say you were running late, or look up that song lyric that was driving you crazy? Problem solved, thanks to smartphones.

Mobile apps assist millions of users with services like email, maps, and weather forecasts, and some have revolutionized entire industries. If you want to purchase music, you no longer need to buy a plastic-encased CD with a paper leaflet – you can download individual tracks, or better yet, stream them. Avid readers don’t need to contribute to deforestation by purchasing physical copies of books, newspapers, and magazines – they can access the information online through free or subscription-based services. Then, of course, there are the dozens of mobile apps we’ve highlighted here on EcoSalon, which can help you live a more conscious lifestyle by reducing your carbon footprint, getting in touch with nature, eating better, and becoming a more socially responsible shopper.

The Bad

In recent years, dozens of environmental and ethical issues related to cell phone production, marketing, use, and disposal have come to light.

It starts with the production of the phone. According to a UL White Paper on the Life Cycle of Materials in Mobile Phones, most cell phones consist of approximately 40% metal and 40% plastic, with the rest of the gadget comprising glass, ceramic, and miscellaneous material. A significant environmental consideration is the energy required to extract the metals used in cell phones, particularly copper, gold, silver, and palladium. In addition, materials like gold, tin, tantalum, and tungsten are often mined in conflict areas, earning them the title of “conflict minerals” by organizations like Raise Hope for Congo, which attempts to educate consumers about the relationship between consumer electronics and violence in Eastern Congo.

That’s not to mention the labor issues that were revealed in an episode of NPR’s “This American Life” earlier this year. The piece, which was excerpted from Mike Daisey’s one-man show, “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” sought to expose the unethical working conditions at Foxconn Technology, the massive Chinese manufacturer that supplies companies like Apple, Motorola, and Nokia. Though the piece was later retracted due to faulty evidence, Foxconn’s reputation was dealt a hefty blow, particularly after reports of mass suicides and worker riots, and the publication of an undercover expose from The Shanghai Evening Post on working conditions leading up to the iPhone 5 release.

Then, there are the ethical issues involved in using a cell phone. Most smartphones rely on accessing data stored in “the cloud,” a digital infrastructure that allows companies to deliver services over the Internet. Though the term sounds nebulous, this infrastructure, in reality, is powered by massive data centers that, “by design, consume vast amounts of energy in an incongruously wasteful manner,” according to a recent special investigation from The New York Times. The article went on to explain that these digital warehouses use about 30 billion watts of electricity, but only about 6 to 12 percent of that electricity is used for actual operations. According to the analysis, “the rest was essentially used to keep servers idling and ready in case of a surge in activity that could slow or crash their operations.”

And finally, there’s the disposal of your cell phone once it’s reached the end of its useful life. Cell phones are classified as a form of toxic waste, thanks to high levels of lead, copper, nickel, antimony, and zinc present in most phone bodies and batteries. Once these gadgets reach the landfill, they leach dangerous amounts of toxins, which then infiltrate the land and nearby water sources. Most of America’s toxic “e-waste” is exported, often to landfills near poor communities in the developing world. A recent CBS News 60 Minutes report tracked one carton of “e-waste” from Colorado to the western Chinese town of Guiyu, where reporters found unbreathable air, undrinkable water, and the highest levels of cancer-causing dioxins in the world.

Layered on top of these life-cycle concerns is the troubling issue of the mobile industry’s manic marketing machine, which often turns a new phone into an unfashionable or unusable relic in a matter of a few years. This business strategy even has a name: planned obsolescence. The New York Times’ David Pogue described it well:

The electronics industry itself is built upon frequent renewal. The iPhone, iPod or iPad you buy today will be obsolete within a year. Every pocket camera model on sale today will no longer be sold six months from now. And Android phones — forget it. They seem to come out every Friday afternoon.

But while we can certainly blame the cell phone industry for this phenomenon, we may be equally to blame, says Pogue.

Does technology really advance that quickly? Or is planned obsolescence at work? It doesn’t matter. In the end, we’re as much to blame as the electronics companies. The manufacturers are simply catering to some fundamental human drives. It’s style; it’s status; it’s the confidence of knowing that we’re not missing out on anything. Owning outdated technology makes us feel outdated ourselves.

So What Now?

Though mobile technology provides a definite benefit to the world, the industry is still plagued with environmental and ethical issues. There are, however, ways you can make your mobile habits more socially responsible. Here are a few.

Assess Your Needs

If you use your cell phone primarily to talk and text, a simple flip phone may be all you need to stay connected. But if your phone serves as your digital camera, your music player, your GPS device, your news reader, and your very best friend, you’re probably better served with a functionality-packed device like the iPhone, especially if owning that one device eliminates the need for all those others.

Consider a “Green” Phone

According to Juniper Research, sales of environmentally-friendly cell phones – defined as those that are free of hazardous chemicals and contain half or more recyclable materials – will reach 400 million by 2017. Treehugger recently published a round-up of the most eco-friendly cell phones on the market, which includes the Samsung Galaxy Exhilarate (AT&T) and the Samsung Replenish (Sprint). In addition, UL Environment recently created a sustainability standard for cell phones, which takes into account the phone’s materials, energy consumption, energy consumption control, available networks, packaging, and end of life options. Currently, 29 mobile phones are included in ULE’s Sustainable Product Database.

Compare Service Providers

EcoSalon recently compared the eco-credentials of AT&T and Verizon, with Verizon winning out for its environmental accomplishments, which include reducing carbon emissions by more than 793 million pounds in 2009, reducing energy consumption by 84 million kilowatt hours in 2009, and establishing the telecom industry’s first energy-efficient standards in 2008. But don’t just take it from us; before you sign a contract, research and inquire about your cell phone provider’s environmental commitment.

Dispose Responsibly

If you must get rid of your phone, make sure you do it responsibly. First, follow the proper recycling procedures: cancel your service contract, delete all personal information, and remove your SIM card, battery, and accessories. A number of retailers, like Apple and Best Buy offer buy-back and recycling programs, which tend to offer credits or discounts toward future phone purchases. You can also donate your phone to a non-profit like 911 Cell Phone Bank, which provides emergency phones to victim service organizations, or Cell Phones for Soldiers, which donates phones to military veterans.

SEE ALSO:

Behind the Diamond Engagement Ring Industry

Behind the Mother’s Day Flower Trade

Behind the Label: The Lululemon Manifesto

Check out all Behind the Label columns here.

Images: Peretz Partensky, Erik Hersman

The post Behind The Label: The Cell Phone Industry appeared first on EcoSalon.

Caress your tech with these nature-inspired skins and covers. 

In celebration of the new iPhone 5, here are ten cases and other gadget holding devices from Society6 that fuse nature with technology. Cost is $35/each.

What is Society6? Good question, but may we suggest switching that “what” to “who?” Thousands of artists from all over the globe create artwork for Society6, printed and shipped in an array of products from gallery quality art prints to t-shirts. Products are produced to order, thus reducing waste; one piece iPhone cases, in particular, are made from a super-plastic called Lexan. Not bamboo or recycled, but stronger and longer lasting than other plastic cases on the market. Interesting tidbit: the material has been increasingly used in eco-friendly and high-concept cars like the GM EcoJet.

Without further ado, iPhone porn.

“Hard to Impress” by Shannonblue

“Birds Flying High” by Ben Geiger

“Washed Away” by Zero Division

“Breathe” by Joy St. Claire

“Across an Endless Sea” by RDelean

“Mountain Range” by Cassia Beck

“Blue Moon” by Galaxy Eyes

“Let’s Run Away” by Leah Flores

“Elemental Geodisc” by Terry Fan

“Friends for Life” by Vin Zzep

Inspired by a post on Design-Milk, who has teamed up with Society6 to curate the Milk Dairy, aimed at supporting and promoting the work of independent artists all over the world.

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