August 2, 2024 • 8 mins
With technology constantly improving and companies putting out brand new updates and products on a regular basis, it begs a question: is this sustainable?
Kate Hall joined Francesca Rudkin for a chat about sustainability and technology, and the impact of new tech on the planet and the people who live on it.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks AB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Now?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Though? Is Kate Hall also also known as ethically Kate
on all her socials. Good morning, Kate, Good morning, Hey,
good thank you. You've got a really interesting topic today,
because we can't live without technology, can we? Well we could,
we have in the past, and some communities and some
communities Kate still choose to live without technology, but most
(00:35):
of us can see the convenience it brings to our lives.
But it does have an impact, doesn't it.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Yeah, totally. I think, you know, I call myself ethically Kate,
and a lot of people say, well, you know about
your phone that you're using to share all this sustainable
living stuff, And there's a whole lot of complexity around
supply chains of our technology, not just our phones that
we're talking about, our computers and all the appliances and
(01:02):
our kitchen, like everything comes with some sort of impact.
I think you're right, We're very, very dependent on it.
So I think rather than just saying, you know, throw
your phones away and live without technology, it's important to
think about, Okay, what can I do better to engage
in technology in a more sustainable way.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
So what do we do about the cell phone?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
So I think first and foremost it's important to look
after your technology really well. I think there's there's a
lot of talk. Obviously we can think about the supply
chain of a of a cell phone, right the minerals
that are involved often mind unethically. You know, that's finite
resources that are being used to make a phone. So
(01:49):
if we do have a phone in our lives. You know,
a lot of a lot of people already have an
original phone, and I'm not saying, you know, throw that
out and buy a sustainably made one, but to look
after it carefully, you know, to have a good case
for it, to clean it to you know, when you're
charging it, there's an optimum charging range of keeping it
(02:09):
between kind of like fifty to seventy percent and not
just leaving it on charge. That's really good for the
longevity of a battery. So yeah, looking after it, but
then also thinking at the end of its life, not
just throwing it in the bin. That is a huge concern.
It's actually even illegal in Australia to dispose of tech
and landfill, so to actually take it to an eWays
(02:32):
to drop off site or you know, take it to
somewhere where they could actually use the parts and refurbish
it or fix it. Even I know that sometimes fixing
technology can cost more than a new device, which is
a great shame. And we're hoping that changes with different
right to repair bills and things like that, but to
(02:52):
actually not just dispose of it or move it on
just because there is a new phone.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
To actually we all love a shiny new things, we
really love it. And do the tech companies know how
to do one thing. They know how to market to us,
They know how to go you know, water, that's a
fine phone, the phone. Your phone's is working, it's perfectly fine.
But look at this and look at what it can
do and then how we get it and most of
us never actually even discover the upgrades that it often.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Oh no, absolutely, I mean I personally. The first new
phone I purchased was in twenty nineteen. So up until
then I had refurbished phones. And the reason I purchased
a new phone was because it's the main tool I
used for my job. And I thought, you know what,
I always refurbished phones weren't doing what I needed it too,
(03:42):
because I use a lot of these different functions, right,
So I thought, I'm going to get a new phone,
it's going to last, I'm going to look after it.
So that's a different way to look at you know,
look at things too, is what do you actually need
it for? And can you get a simpler, cheaper, you know,
model that that you don't have to keep upgrading and
(04:04):
just ask yourself for my buyingess because I need it?
Or am I buying this because you know my friend
got their latest one and I make one keep up.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
It's really interesting though. You mentioned refurbished tech, and we're
seeing this more and more now that you know, you know,
and a lot of the time people don't want to
have to buy a new phone. Something will happened to
a phone, you know, they drop it in a poll
of the toilet or something happens, and you know it's
it's irrepearable when they go, okay, I need a new phone.
I'm hearing. But you know, now it's so much easier
to go off and find a phone which may have
(04:34):
had a small fault someone's you know, decided to sell
it to a refurbish it. They fix it up and
it could be perfectly good to go.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Definitely we have. There's just so many more options now.
I remember trying to find a refurbished phone. Yeah, many
many years ago. It was quite difficult and with less
options come, you know, that's kind of hard to find
exactly what you want. But now we just if you
think about the amount of different models and makes of
each brand of phone, it's just unlimited, you know, there's
(05:03):
just unlimitless. So so so I think, yeah, I think
buying new phones and this whole kind of the marketing
I think is probably the least sustainable part of technology,
So being really really careful about purchasing. And it's so
dangerous going back to the end of life of a
(05:25):
phone to put a phone into a landfill site. Actually,
we've had lots of recent fires and tracks rubbish tracks
seat of collecting our rubbish from the curb side because
people are just throwing their phones in there, and the
batteries can heat up and be exposed to all sorts
of chemicals and yeah, literally set on fire and cost
(05:48):
a lot of money to repair those tracks to get
them back on the road. So it's complex the making
of a phone and also the end of life. We
just need to do so much better as a society.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
It's interesting. I learned something this week, Kate, which may
or may not be of interest to people out there,
But I had to get rid of some polystyrene had
come in in a new clothes dry and I got
online found out that Mighty ten will take that and
dispose of it for you. But then I get to
minta ten to put my polysty in the in the
in the big containers there. They'll take your soft plastics,
(06:22):
they'll take your cardboard, they take batteries, they take light bulbs,
they're taking they're helping recycle these, you know, these items
the way they should be, which is absolutely fantastic. And
it's pretty easy to find a Mighty Tent as opposed to,
as you say, trying to hide it in the and
the rubbish to head off to them. That make it so.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Easy, brilliant.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
And it's so easy when it's all in one place, too,
isn't it. Because all of those you know, waste streams
that can be recycled or reused that you mentioned, if
you had to go, you know, to a different place
to drop off all those things, that's quite unaccessible for
you know, a busy time, poor person.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Because I rang them and they probably regreted it. But
I just loaded the car. I can cover off a
lot of things, so we need to we need to
dispose of old tech properly. I also because I got
the new dryer, the old dry which was about fifteen
twenty years old, had to be recycled, and I wanted
to make sure that went to somewhere Kate that was
going to recycle it, properly, use the metal, use whatever
it could. So I found a waist person. I took
(07:24):
it down there and I actually just hugely relieved they
were taking off my handcake. But they pay you for
your metal. And then they said to me, we don't.
We don't really pay a lot for dryers. And I said,
that's absolutely fine. I just want to recycled properly and
just thank you for taking it off my hands. I
got two dollars thirty for the dry.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Sitting.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I went, okay, and I was like, you really need
a little charity, but been or something on the top
of you for people like me, what are you sit down?
Speaker 1 (07:54):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I don't think I'm rolling around the bottom of my handbag.
But you know, once again, it's not that hard to
find places to recycle your ewaste or your anything that's
got some sort of technology in it.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah. Absolutely, We've got like Echo and Auckland is a
great place to take all cables, computers, tech sustainability trusters
in Wellington Ecocentral and christ Church like those are kind
of the main hubs. But honestly, years ago these companies
you know, didn't exist or they're very small and didn't
have the infrastructure to take everything. So yeah, I mean
(08:30):
now we kind of there's no excuses really to actually
dispose of things properly and keep all of those missals
and precious minerals and resources in our resource pool so
that we don't have to keep pillaging the earth of
finite stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Kate, really nice to talk to you this morning. Thank
you so much for joining us. You can follow Kate
down on socials as Ethically Kate.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live
to Newstalk Z'B from nine am Saturday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Team podcast
from News Talks AB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Now?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Though? Is Kate Hall also also known as ethically Kate
on all her socials. Good morning, Kate, Good morning, Hey,
good thank you. You've got a really interesting topic today,
because we can't live without technology, can we? Well we could,
we have in the past, and some communities and some
communities Kate still choose to live without technology, but most
(00:35):
of us can see the convenience it brings to our lives.
But it does have an impact, doesn't it.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
Yeah, totally. I think, you know, I call myself ethically Kate,
and a lot of people say, well, you know about
your phone that you're using to share all this sustainable
living stuff, And there's a whole lot of complexity around
supply chains of our technology, not just our phones that
we're talking about, our computers and all the appliances and
(01:02):
our kitchen, like everything comes with some sort of impact.
I think you're right, We're very, very dependent on it.
So I think rather than just saying, you know, throw
your phones away and live without technology, it's important to
think about, Okay, what can I do better to engage
in technology in a more sustainable way.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
So what do we do about the cell phone?
Speaker 3 (01:25):
So I think first and foremost it's important to look
after your technology really well. I think there's there's a
lot of talk. Obviously we can think about the supply
chain of a of a cell phone, right the minerals
that are involved often mind unethically. You know, that's finite
resources that are being used to make a phone. So
(01:49):
if we do have a phone in our lives. You know,
a lot of a lot of people already have an
original phone, and I'm not saying, you know, throw that
out and buy a sustainably made one, but to look
after it carefully, you know, to have a good case
for it, to clean it to you know, when you're
charging it, there's an optimum charging range of keeping it
(02:09):
between kind of like fifty to seventy percent and not
just leaving it on charge. That's really good for the
longevity of a battery. So yeah, looking after it, but
then also thinking at the end of its life, not
just throwing it in the bin. That is a huge concern.
It's actually even illegal in Australia to dispose of tech
and landfill, so to actually take it to an eWays
(02:32):
to drop off site or you know, take it to
somewhere where they could actually use the parts and refurbish
it or fix it. Even I know that sometimes fixing
technology can cost more than a new device, which is
a great shame. And we're hoping that changes with different
right to repair bills and things like that, but to
(02:52):
actually not just dispose of it or move it on
just because there is a new phone.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
To actually we all love a shiny new things, we
really love it. And do the tech companies know how
to do one thing. They know how to market to us,
They know how to go you know, water, that's a
fine phone, the phone. Your phone's is working, it's perfectly fine.
But look at this and look at what it can
do and then how we get it and most of
us never actually even discover the upgrades that it often.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
Oh no, absolutely, I mean I personally. The first new
phone I purchased was in twenty nineteen. So up until
then I had refurbished phones. And the reason I purchased
a new phone was because it's the main tool I
used for my job. And I thought, you know what,
I always refurbished phones weren't doing what I needed it too,
(03:42):
because I use a lot of these different functions, right,
So I thought, I'm going to get a new phone,
it's going to last, I'm going to look after it.
So that's a different way to look at you know,
look at things too, is what do you actually need
it for? And can you get a simpler, cheaper, you know,
model that that you don't have to keep upgrading and
(04:04):
just ask yourself for my buyingess because I need it?
Or am I buying this because you know my friend
got their latest one and I make one keep up.
Speaker 2 (04:12):
It's really interesting though. You mentioned refurbished tech, and we're
seeing this more and more now that you know, you know,
and a lot of the time people don't want to
have to buy a new phone. Something will happened to
a phone, you know, they drop it in a poll
of the toilet or something happens, and you know it's
it's irrepearable when they go, okay, I need a new phone.
I'm hearing. But you know, now it's so much easier
to go off and find a phone which may have
(04:34):
had a small fault someone's you know, decided to sell
it to a refurbish it. They fix it up and
it could be perfectly good to go.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
Definitely we have. There's just so many more options now.
I remember trying to find a refurbished phone. Yeah, many
many years ago. It was quite difficult and with less
options come, you know, that's kind of hard to find
exactly what you want. But now we just if you
think about the amount of different models and makes of
each brand of phone, it's just unlimited, you know, there's
(05:03):
just unlimitless. So so so I think, yeah, I think
buying new phones and this whole kind of the marketing
I think is probably the least sustainable part of technology,
So being really really careful about purchasing. And it's so
dangerous going back to the end of life of a
(05:25):
phone to put a phone into a landfill site. Actually,
we've had lots of recent fires and tracks rubbish tracks
seat of collecting our rubbish from the curb side because
people are just throwing their phones in there, and the
batteries can heat up and be exposed to all sorts
of chemicals and yeah, literally set on fire and cost
(05:48):
a lot of money to repair those tracks to get
them back on the road. So it's complex the making
of a phone and also the end of life. We
just need to do so much better as a society.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
It's interesting. I learned something this week, Kate, which may
or may not be of interest to people out there,
But I had to get rid of some polystyrene had
come in in a new clothes dry and I got
online found out that Mighty ten will take that and
dispose of it for you. But then I get to
minta ten to put my polysty in the in the
in the big containers there. They'll take your soft plastics,
(06:22):
they'll take your cardboard, they take batteries, they take light bulbs,
they're taking they're helping recycle these, you know, these items
the way they should be, which is absolutely fantastic. And
it's pretty easy to find a Mighty Tent as opposed to,
as you say, trying to hide it in the and
the rubbish to head off to them. That make it so.
Speaker 3 (06:44):
Easy, brilliant.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:46):
And it's so easy when it's all in one place, too,
isn't it. Because all of those you know, waste streams
that can be recycled or reused that you mentioned, if
you had to go, you know, to a different place
to drop off all those things, that's quite unaccessible for
you know, a busy time, poor person.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
Because I rang them and they probably regreted it. But
I just loaded the car. I can cover off a
lot of things, so we need to we need to
dispose of old tech properly. I also because I got
the new dryer, the old dry which was about fifteen
twenty years old, had to be recycled, and I wanted
to make sure that went to somewhere Kate that was
going to recycle it, properly, use the metal, use whatever
it could. So I found a waist person. I took
(07:24):
it down there and I actually just hugely relieved they
were taking off my handcake. But they pay you for
your metal. And then they said to me, we don't.
We don't really pay a lot for dryers. And I said,
that's absolutely fine. I just want to recycled properly and
just thank you for taking it off my hands. I
got two dollars thirty for the dry.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
Sitting.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
I went, okay, and I was like, you really need
a little charity, but been or something on the top
of you for people like me, what are you sit down?
Speaker 1 (07:54):
I don't.
Speaker 2 (07:55):
I don't think I'm rolling around the bottom of my handbag.
But you know, once again, it's not that hard to
find places to recycle your ewaste or your anything that's
got some sort of technology in it.
Speaker 3 (08:08):
Yeah. Absolutely, We've got like Echo and Auckland is a
great place to take all cables, computers, tech sustainability trusters
in Wellington Ecocentral and christ Church like those are kind
of the main hubs. But honestly, years ago these companies
you know, didn't exist or they're very small and didn't
have the infrastructure to take everything. So yeah, I mean
(08:30):
now we kind of there's no excuses really to actually
dispose of things properly and keep all of those missals
and precious minerals and resources in our resource pool so
that we don't have to keep pillaging the earth of
finite stuff.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
Kate, really nice to talk to you this morning. Thank
you so much for joining us. You can follow Kate
down on socials as Ethically Kate.
Speaker 1 (08:52):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame. Listen live
to Newstalk Z'B from nine am Saturday, or follow the
podcast on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.