[57FkMytWjyFu]

According to Apple it might be.

But we aren't asking any end users in the article, because screw them, right?

Anything that enables the environmental irresponsibility of AirPods is only "right" from the perspective of the shareholder.

Certainly not the species.

[joshstrange]

> Anything that enables the environmental irresponsibility of AirPods is only "right" from the perspective of the shareholder.

Spare me. Companies are busy dumping waste all over this planet and you want me to care about something the size of 2 grapes?

[tanseydavid]

Considering only the size of the discarded item(s) hardly covers the entire waste scenario.

[joshstrange]

Fine, consider the entire "cost" of manufacturing, shipping, etc. I'd wager my 1 pair of AirPods is hilariously tiny verses what some companies do in a hour if not a few minutes. Framing this as an environmental issue is just ridiculous. It's the same BS behind oil companies trying to convince people that not recycling is the big issue, not them.

[57FkMytWjyFu]

Way to miss the point. You're going to use a lot more than 1 pair, Buster!

[joshstrange]

Oh the humanity! I cannot take people like you seriously. I could by 100 pairs and still do considerably less damage than some companies do in the time it takes me to check out.

[57FkMytWjyFu]

Yes, I would care very much about 2 grapes if it cost me 150 bones and 30 minutes to replace them.

[thebigspacefuck]

What is the environmental irresponsibility of AirPods?

[57FkMytWjyFu]

You cannot replace the batteries without prying them apart, and Apple by default just tells you to throw them away and buy new ones.

There are rare earth minerals in the speaker drivers.

[thebigspacefuck]

It looks like they recommend recycling them https://support.apple.com/guide/airpods/disposal-and-recycli...

And use 100% recycled rare earth elements according to the tech specs https://support.apple.com/kb/SP856?viewlocale=en_US&locale=e...

[galleywest200]

1) Your link only mentions the magnets, nothing else in relation to rare earth elements.

2) Plastic is not recyclable in a lot of jurisdictions. Seattle stopped collecting it all together.

3) Most people will not ecycle things. Most people will just throw them in the trash instead of driving to a big box store to drop of headphones for ecycling.

3a) Sure, this behavior is common across electronics (being lazy, throwing away) but when you design an electrical device to never be repaired you are just making things worse.

[57FkMytWjyFu]

That's not what they will tell you on the phone. https://youtu.be/RQqk45ps9kg?t=31

"It would cost more than it's worth to like... break it apart, to open it up, and replace the battery" (because we designed them that way)

Have you ever heard of planned obsolescence?

To your second point, the problem isn't that they come from recycled. The problem is that they won't be recycled again.

[scarface74]

Have you seen the tear down of the AirPod? The batteries make up the bulk of it.

[57FkMytWjyFu]

That's so weird. My headphones are comprised of mostly.... headphones.

And that's not even addressing the issue of the charging curves of lithium batteries that make those batteries fail sooner than they should.