Every product you own has a hidden environmental cost baked into its manufacturing. Producing a single smartphone generates roughly 70 kg of CO2, equivalent to driving 280 kilometres. A laptop accounts for about 300-400 kg, and a refrigerator can exceed 500 kg. These emissions happen before the product ever reaches your home, locked into the mining of raw materials, factory energy use, and global shipping.
When you repair instead of replace, you avoid nearly all of that manufacturing footprint. A phone screen replacement, for example, generates under 1 kg of CO2 compared to the 70 kg of building a new device. That is a 98% reduction in carbon impact for what is often a $100 fix.
Electronic waste is one of the fastest-growing waste streams on the planet. The United Nations estimates that the world generates over 60 million tonnes of e-waste each year, and less than 20% is formally recycled. In Canada, the average household discards more than 20 kg of electronic waste annually. Much of it ends up in landfills where toxic materials like lead, mercury, and cadmium can leach into soil and groundwater.
The circular economy offers an alternative. Instead of the traditional “take-make-dispose” model, a circular approach keeps products and materials in use for as long as possible through repair, refurbishment, and recycling. Every item you repair is one fewer item manufactured and one fewer item in a landfill. Collectively, these individual choices drive meaningful change. If even 10% of Canadians repaired one more device per year, it would prevent over 50,000 tonnes of e-waste and avoid millions of kilograms of CO2 emissions.
Use this calculator to see the specific environmental savings for the item you are considering repairing.
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Why does this matter?
Manufacturing new products generates significant CO2 emissions and e-waste. By repairing instead of replacing, you directly reduce your environmental footprint.