Column: How about repairing instead of replacing your smartphone?

How about repairing instead of replacing your smartphone this Christmas?

Even in Hawaii, where we immerse ourselves in the joys of nature, we rely on technology to make our lives simpler and more efficient. But when that technology needs repairs, there is a disadvantage to being in one of the most remote places in the world.

Say you drop your phone and the screen cracks. The screen may be doomed, but is the whole phone?

According to the new U.S. PIRG Education Fund report, “What are Hawaiians Fixing?”, Hawaii residents are looking for ways to make repairs themselves. Too often they can’t get what they need to fix their devices in a timely way, so they just replace it instead. This report shows that more than 302,000 unique visitors from Hawaii went to iFixIt.com to try and fix their devices in 2018, and yet 3 of the 5 most popular manufacturers do not provide the parts, tools, or technical information needed to make repairs.

Apple and Samsung, the top two manufacturers in the report, both fall into this bucket. That means to fix your broken screen you would have to go to an “authorized repair center,” where they could charge you as much as $279. Finding a store can be difficult: Apple only has three stores in Hawaii, all on Oahu, while Samsung has zero. That makes phone support with them the main option, and the five- to six-hour time difference makes this especially difficult.

Combine this with additional shipping time for parts and mail-in service — and many consumers abandon repair, buy a new device, and scrap the old one.

Independent shops on island could fill the gap, but when manufacturers don’t provide locally-owned shops with parts or service information, they have to turn away customers.

Because we can’t fix our broken phones quickly or easily, we’re going through them at an incredible rate. We replace about 416,000 each day in the U.S. and some 1,700 each day in Hawaii alone. Some of those phones are just a $40 battery replacement away from being as good as new.

Electronic waste has become the single fastest-growing part of our waste stream, and recycling isn’t enough. Much like the situation that has caused Hawaii County to stop recycling certain paper and plastic materials, only about 25% of U.S. e-waste gets recycled. The remainder ends up in landfills that leach toxic substances from heavy metals into the environment.

I once ran into this problem first-hand. After driving over two hours to the nearest commercial e-waste facility, I was turned away because the yearly quota had already been met. These irreparable computers were destined for the landfill unless added to a pile of e-waste to be brought back another time to (hopefully) be accepted in a new quota year.

Lack of repair options is a special problem for Hawaii. Out of necessity, Hawaii residents have developed strategies of self-reliance and sustainability that require we get good at fixing the things that are important to our way of life. We just need manufacturers to stop blocking access to the critical tools, parts and information we need to keep our technology in our hands and out of the landfills. If manufacturers will not do the right thing, then legislators must step in.

By passing Right to Repair reforms, our legislators can make sure your phone with a broken screen can be rescued from a premature death. They can protect consumers, our planet and our self-reliant way of life. See more about these changes at hawaii.repair.org.

Jim Crum, of Paauilo, Hawaii, is owner of Geeks for Good.