Changing your device before the end of its lifespan for a better energy saving one is NOT a solution, as most of its environmental impact arises during production.

A study on timely replacement of notebooks showed that a realistic energy efficiency improvement of 10% between two notebook generations meant the amortisation periods would be between 33 and 88 years!

In a word, keep your devices as long as possible and adopt low-energy practices while using them.

Here are some of the low-energy best practices you can adopt in your daily life:

• Unplug / switch off devices at lunch time, after office hours and on weekends (computer manufacturers have stated that you can switch off your computer up to three times a day without reducing its lifetime)
• Make sure your printers are also included in this switch off. You may use Advanced Power Strips (APS) to set up automatic switch off.
• Set your devices on energy saving / sleep mode over lunch and whenever you are away from your desk for any length of time
• Turn off your screen saver
• Turn off location services / Wifi / Bluetooth when you do not use it (or turn on the plane mode)
• Dim Your Screen. The brighter the screen setting, the more power it uses. The auto-brightness settings help your phone automatically adjust, taking both readability and energy use into account.
• Kill apps you are not using
• Turn off GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth when not necessary (tough in time of Covid though, that is true!)
• Disable notifications (if not necessary). Notifications cause the screen on the phone to light up, make a sound, and even vibrate.
• Protect your device from high/low temperatures. Lithium-ion battery in your mobile phone are sensitive to temperature; excessive heat and cold hinder its performance.
• Decrease screen timeout. For example; a 30-second timeout, which takes effect after a half minute of no screen interaction, is enough to see an alert or check an email before shutting off.
• Use black modes for a maximum of apps (when it is available)
• Deploy apps/softwares for a better energy consumption tracking like this list. We have not led a study yet on these apps but the list seems at least interesting to give you ideas!

If you wish to know more about mobile phone energy consumption, you can have a look at this interesting (yet long) article.