Eco-Friendly Mobile Screen Protectors: A Sustainable Alternative

With global temperatures on the rise and increasingly challenging environmental problems on the horizon, now’s the best time to make incremental but impactful changes. Every little thing matters, including your choice of phone cases and screen protectors. There’s always a sustainable alternative out there; find it with this quick guide. 

The Environmental Impact of Our Phones

Most of us are unaware that every mobile phone’s carbon footprint continues increasing once it hits the shelves. 85% of your phone’s original carbon footprint comes from its manufacturing process, and that footprint only grows after purchase as you buy new, unsustainable accessories.

Let’s break that down:

• Your phone itself, without any accessories, accounts for between 80 and 100 kg of CO2. 
• Unsustainable accessories like screen protectors made out of PET can account for another 10kg of CO2.
• If you charge your phone with electricity produced through oil and other non-renewable sources, your footprint will only grow.

We can’t really change the materials our phones are made of. Even considering their carbon contributions, materials like titanium alloys and silicon wafers are essential building blocks for our most essential devices.

We can choose to make smarter decisions everywhere else, especially at a time when we have access to so many incredible alternatives.

Read: Comprehensive Guide to Selecting the Best Burberry Watches

What’s in a Sustainable Screen Protector?

Sustainability, in this case, is all about minimizing the screen protector’s environmental impact across its lifecycle. That covers everything from manufacturing to post-purchase use and disposal. 

Traditional screen protectors, the kind you might find being sold on the street, are usually made of cheap but harmful materials like petroleum-based plastics and non-recyclable tempered glass. Sustainable screen protectors, on the other hand:

• Use Eco-Friendly Materials: Like biodegradable polymers (such as sugarcane-based polylactic acid) and recycled glass. These materials are marginally more expensive, offer the same or even better protection, and vastly reduce dependence on petroleum-based materials.
  
• Are Biodegradable: Biodegradability is such an important part of sustainability. After all, you’re bound to upgrade that iPhone at some point. Screen protectors made from biodegradable polymers can break down in just a few months if processed properly under proper conditions.
  
• Leverage Sustainable Manufacturing: It’s not just about the materials. The actual process that uses up those materials should ideally also be green. For example, you won’t really be minimizing your carbon footprint if your sugarcane-based screen protector came out of an oil-guzzling factory.
  
  Instead, you’ll want to prioritize manufacturers that have shifted to greener processes. More sustainable brands already use renewable energy to power their plants and even leverage smoke stack filters to minimize and reuse their CO2, just one example of how innovation and technology are reshaping modern business practices. Here are a few other exciting ways tech is transforming industries.
  
• Use Green Packaging: This is the cherry on top, the last little flourish that leaves a smile on your face after you receive your order. Sustainable brands that really commit to a greener planet will also reduce their packaging waste with plant-based wraps and even cardboard. This reduces around 300 million tons of waste annually.

How Do Sustainable Screen Protectors Perform?

Sustainable ≄ High Performance

This is a very common misconception that seems to follow around not just sustainable screen protectors, but most eco-friendly products in general. It couldn’t be further from the truth.

Eco-friendly screen protectors, whether they’re made from plant-based polymers, recycled glass, or a combination of alternative materials, can match and even outperform traditional PET-based screen protectors.

For instance, screen protectors made from recycled glass can easily meet and even surpass the industry’s usual 9H-rated tempered glass. That means greener screen protectors are just as hard and scratch-proof as their non-eco-friendly alternatives. 

The same goes for non-tempered glass screen protectors. If you’re using a plant-based option, you’ll get the same flexibility you might expect from the best traditional screen protectors on the market. Using the touch screen feels just as responsive, and you get the same high-resolution transparency you’re used to.

Making The Switch

Ready to make the switch to a greener, more sustainable screen protector? Let’s get started with a few tips to help you find the perfect screen protector for your needs.

• Materials and Durability: This is a buyer’s market, and you can choose from an immense list of options based on what you’re looking for. Screen protectors made from recycled glass will give you the best-in-class protection if you’re worried about accidentally scratching your phone or dropping it on the pavement in a hurry.
  
  Looking for something simpler and more affordable? You can’t really go wrong with a simple composite screen protector made from plant-based polymers. It’s the same flexibility and touch sensitivity you’re used to. You can also consider a composite screen protector that uses both post-consumer glass and recyclable plastics.
  
• Certifications: Credible environmental certifications are the best way to tell if your product is authentic and sustainably manufactured. If you’re in the US, look for the ASTM D6400 standard logo. You should also look for third-party certifications, as they can sometimes be even more reliable, depending on where you’re located. The Global Recycled Standard is a good one to watch for here.
  
• Brands: Finally, try to stick with an established brand if you can. Trusted brands have already developed robust eco-friendly manufacturing pipelines, and you can always trust them to deliver authentic products.
  
• Price: Most manufacturers are still in the process of moving to more sustainable production pipelines, and that comes at a cost. While they aren’t as expensive as they used to be, you can expect sustainable screen protectors to be anywhere between $10 and $45 (if you’re going very high-end). It’s worth it!

Once you’ve switched to a more eco-friendly screen protector, you can also consider upgrading other accessories you might be using right now. For example, most generic phone cases also use forms of PET and other non-degradable materials, and swapping them out can help you minimize your carbon footprint even further.

Towards a Greener Future

Do phone cases cause overheating? Certainly not, but the coal-based factories making your cases and screens are overheating the planet. Every little choice can make a big difference, and you can help build a greener Earth with your next purchase.