via Apple
I added a sustainability section to my case reviews because so many case manufacturers don’t take it into consideration. They’ll mix materials that are hard to separate for recycling, they’ll use plastic in the packaging, and they take other steps that turn the unfortunately necessary protection for your phone into useless waste when you eventually get a new phone.
There are plenty of ways case manufacturers can make a more eco-friendly case. First, use only cardboard packaging, as it’s easy to recycle and breaks down if it is thrown in the trash. Second, use compostable material in your case, preferably make the entire case compostable outside of the MagSafe magnets. Finally, create a re-usable MagSafe sticker that goes inside the case to allow users to bring their magnets with them to their next case. Pela finally got on board with this, but the last time I tested their cases, I was disappointed. Their clear case shattered during a stress test most cases pass with ease, and their standard case was as flimsy as overcooked spaghetti. Still, other manufacturers have made stiff compostable cases that feel much better.
If you can’t use compostable materials, at least make the cases easy to disassemble into parts and recycle. Use recycled materials to ensure the case isn’t adding plastic to the environment. Ensure that the case is durable and will look good for years so users don’t have to replace it constantly. There’s a lot to consider, but it’s not hard to make a case that is both protective and eco-friendly.
Apple claimed they were replacing their leather cases to make their lineup more eco-friendly. Tim Cook specifically denied allegations of “virtue-signaling” that is, claiming to support a cause to look good while not doing anything that actually helps the cause. Turns out, replacing leather with “FineWoven” cases was clearly virtue-signaling. These cases are an ecological disaster much larger than I previously assumed.
A Case a Day Keeps the Landfills Full
This post was inspired by a 9to5Mac story by Chance Miller. In it, there’s this little tidbit that made me realize I need to expand upon my first post about Apple’s FineWoven cases:
“We’re told that Apple Stores are having to replace the FineWoven cases on display at least once a day because they become so gross-looking.”
These displays often have multiple cases on display. They’ll have every color, and multiple phone types sitting out, as well as the MagSafe wallets. If Apple’s “replacing” them every day, it’s not as though they’re going back and cleaning them and putting them back on the shelves. These cases get damaged easily. It’s not like leather, you can’t just buff it out, it’s permanent. So that means they’re throwing these cases away. Retail creates a ton of trash, trust me, I worked in retail for far too long. However, adding mountains of cases to the pile every day is extremely wasteful.
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Virtues: Signaled
What’s worse is that it seems like Apple knew these cases weren’t impressive. Chance Miller was at the Apple event and wanted to check out the FineWoven cases. Despite touting them during the event, Apple didn’t put them out for journalists to look at. Instead, they had to specifically request them.
“This also explains why it was so hard to get hands-on time with FineWoven at Steve Jobs Theater after the iPhone 15 event. I had to specifically ask to see the case. They weren’t just readily available on the tables to try.”
– Chance Miller, 9to5Mac
This means Apple knew their cases would disappoint, lead to returns and wasted display units. They knew these cases would be an ecological disaster and still made them out to be some wonderful new way to combat waste anyway. The FineWoven cases don’t even have 100% recycled materials, so this is new plastic being introduced to the environment just to end up in the trash. Apple may have shrunk the packaging of the iPhone and used all cardboard, but as long as a case is a must-have accessory for the iPhone and it creates this much waste, they might as well have shipped it in plastic. Apple touted the FineWoven cases as an eco-friendly design. If you’re only looking at the components in it, maybe it is. But the lifetime of a product has to be taken into account, and, for the FineWoven cases, that lifetime may be just a day or two. It’s worse than their leather cases that were durable, lasted users for years, and could more easily by split out into recyclable materials and biodegradable materials. Virtue-signalling is often harmless, but not when you know what you’re doing is more harmful than helpful. For Apple’s FineWoven accessories, that seems to be the case.