How to Repurpose Your Old Gadgets
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Electronic waste is a huge problem, one that's getting worse: We're now producing 21 percent more e-waste globally than we were five years ago. When it comes to gadgets like phones, your brand new model will likely be superseded in a year, and sometimes not even that.
That's why it's worth thinking twice about what you do with your old gadgets whenever something new arrives. You might be surprised at how many ways you can repurpose an old piece of hardware, even if it's several years old and has become too slow to fulfill its original function properly anymore.
These are some of our favorite ideas, but there are more out there—with a little bit of imagination, you might be able to come up with something new. When a smartphone has outlived its usefulness, don't toss it. There's a lot of working tech in there that can fulfill other roles. One of these roles is as a security camera, providing an always-on video feed that you can tap into using another phone from anywhere else in the world.