What’s in your smartphone? | ExxonMobil’s climate change risk | SAP aims for 100% renewable energy

26 March 2014

I often think of something that our editor-at-large Marc Gunther once pointed out: all of us have supply chains, and most of us don’t know what’s in them.

Guardian Sustainable Business decided to take a deep dive into the sustainability impacts of an item that has become increasingly important to everyday life: our cellphones. In the interactive story below, we have examined some of the key materials that go into the production of a smartphone and the influence they have wielded on different industries.

What other purchases would you like us to explore? Let us know by tweeting us@GuardianSustBiz. Enjoy!

– Jennifer Kho


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Smartphones are owned by one in five people and have changed how many of the world’s most important industries work – from journalism to farming. But what is the true human and environmental cost of the devices that many of us depend on?Explore our interactive to find out.


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	What you said…

Our interactive and content on the impact of your smartphone created a buzz on Twitter. Here’s what you had to on the matter:

From @nich769: “Great new interactive to bring to life positive & negative #impacts of our #smartphone”

From @rebecca_g: “Dirty reading: Sheep w/ two rows of teeth = consequences of rare earth mining in China:”

From @ALPH3R1: “WOW unbelievable. That is just harsh very very sad. I don’t understand why they can’t just be fair?”


	What’s next

Model Behavior: 20 Business Model Innovations for Sustainability
An informal breakfast roundtable to discuss business model innovation for sustainability, how it works and what the new models disrupting the industry are.
27 March, 8am-10am (ET), New York

World Economic Forum on Latin America
World leaders will discuss the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for the region under the theme: Delivering growth, strengthening societies.
23 – 25 April, Lima, Peru


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