If you want to keep your phone in the best condition, using a protective phone case is your best bet. So why use a biodegradable phone case? Many phone cases are made from dense plastics that can take hundreds of years to break down after they’re discarded, which means that they can contribute to environmental pollution and clog up landfills.
Biodegradable phone cases are phone cases made from organic materials that will naturally break down into the soil after you have disposed of them. Some of the most popular biodegradable phone cases are made out of bamboo, bioplastics, plant fibers, and recycled materials.
So, if you are looking for an eco-friendly and sustainable way to protect your phone, we have you covered. We will be discussing the benefits of using a biodegradable phone case and what they’re made of, and we will also be highlighting some of the best biodegradable cases out there.
Why Should I Use a Biodegradable Phone Case?
Everyone knows that phone cases are a great way to make your phone last longer and perform better over time. Still, one other benefit of using a phone case is that it will prevent your phone from being damaged or destroyed, which reduces waste. Every time you throw a phone in the garbage or replace a broken screen, materials such as metal and glass are thrown into the landfill, and they will not break down for a very long time.
According to Wikipedia, over one billion mobile phones were sold in 2020, and that is a lot of phone cases per year. Every minute of every day, one truckload of plastic enters the ocean, some of which is phone cases. Beyond protecting your phone, phone cases are often made from non-biodegradable materials like rubber, silicone, plastic, and metal. These phone cases can take 500 years or more to break down in the environment.
Since over a billion plastic phone cases are sold every year globally, tons of long-lasting plastic cases are sitting in oceans and landfills, and they will not degrade over hundreds of years. When you throw them away in the garbage, they can also find their way into natural features such as rivers, oceans, and forests, contributing to the ecosystem’s destruction.
Smartphone Cases Made With Biodegradable Materials
Some Smartphone cases are made with biodegradable materials, making them more eco-friendly and often home-compostable. Materials can be considered biodegradable if they break down into the soil in under 25 years. However, compostable phone cases break down and return to the natural earth within one year of disposal.
Most biodegradable and compostable phone cases are made out of one or more materials that break down naturally, like wood, plant fibers, and other organic materials. Using one of these cases could cut down on a lot of waste and manufacturing costs.
Long-term, biodegradable, and compostable plastics should not mix with recyclable plastics. Throwing a biodegradable plastic product into a landfill defeats the purpose of biodegradable and compostable plastics. Biodegradable plastics need moisture, air, and sunlight to break down properly. Most public dumps and landfills only put a top layer of dirt on top of the waste and deprive it of the composting effect and “mixing”.
Please see some of our other Environmentally Conscious articles like “What is Sustainability on an Eco-Friendly Smartphone?” and “What Is a Compostable Phone Case?”
Phone Case Recycling Resources
These are some Phone Recycling Resources that have been recommended to us and may be helpful to you.
- Cell phone recycling | How to recycle phones for cash | Decluttr
- Can You Recycle Old Phone Cases? How to Dispose of Them Sustainably
- Focus On: Recycling Matters | See Why Recycling Is Important
Biodegradable Phone Case Durability
So, you might be worried that biodegradable phone cases are less durable or more expensive than plastic ones. However, sustainable phone case manufacturers design their products with cost and durability in mind, so you can rest assured that biodegradable phone cases will not cost more than plastic ones.
Biodegradable phone cases are also durable and will only break down under high humidity conditions, like in a composter or the dirt. So, even though your biodegradable phone case will degrade when placed in a compost pile or landfill, it will be safe to use on your phone for many years, just like a regular plastic phone case.
There are soft and hard biodegradable phone cases that are also protective of your phone and some offer environmentally friendly screen protection options. Please see the video below to check out some drop tests.
The Best Biodegradable Phone Case Brands
While many phone case brands boast that their products are made with biodegradable or organic materials, some of these cases are actually only 20% or 30% biodegradable. So, when looking for an environmentally-friendly phone case, you should try to find the most sustainable option available. These brands are all entirely plant-based, which means they are compostable.
Pela Case
Pela Case’s are available on Amazon, and their founder began experimenting with biodegradable phone case materials after seeing the polluted beaches in Hawaii during a vacation trip. For 11 years now, Pela Case has been the leading producer of eco-friendly phone case materials, and they are the most popular compostable phone case brand in the world.
Their phone cases come in many colors, designs, and sizes, making it easy to find the right phone protection for you. Pela Case products are made out of flax waste from flaxseed harvests. The flax stalks are ground and glued together with a biodegradable biopolymer to make a Pela Case. They are also shipped and sold with completely biodegradable packaging, which cuts down on plenty of plastic waste per product.
All of their phone cases are BPA-free, and they contain no lead, cadmium, or phthalates. Pela cases all fully compost after six months of soil exposure without leaching chemicals into the environment, which means that they will not contribute to pollution.
Eco Owl
Eco Owl is an Australian phone case brand that sells fully home-compostable phone cases made from bamboo and corn bioplastic. Eco Owl cases come in a variety of bright colors and many engraved wood designs. They also have a unique collection called MMore made with various plants and herbs such as jasmine, alpine hay, lavender, coffee, roses, and leaves that give your phone case a pleasant fragrance and a lovely flowery texture.
Eco Owl’s phone cases can fully degrade within 6-12 months, making them among the best options for purchasing fully sustainable phone protection. They also come in plastic-free packaging, so there is no need to worry about producing more unnecessary plastic when you buy from Eco Owl.
In addition to offering phone cases for iPhone, Samsung, and Huawei phone models, they offer tons of other biodegradable and sustainable products such as sunglasses, jewelry, purses, toiletries, wallets, and much more.
Eco Fashion by Wilma
Eco Fashion by Wilma is a Swedish phone case brand that uses 100% organic, compostable materials to make its phone cases. Wilma’s products are made entirely from corn materials like cornstarch and cellulose. They degrade entirely within six months of disposal.
Out of all the brands, Wilma Be You offers some of the most beautiful, elaborate design options, such as marbled print, animal designs, and a wide variety of colors and textures. All of the pigments that they use are also organic and non-toxic, so you can get colors without polluting the environment at Wilma’s shop.
Wilma Be You products are all shipped in non-plastic packaging, which can significantly cut down the amount of plastic you produce. They offer iPhone cases, AirPods cases, iPad cases, and Samsung phone cases, so they have everything you could want.
Incipio Organicore
Incipio Organicore phone cases are available on Amazon and are described as 100% plant-based. Their composition dissolves completely and harmlessly when discarded in a compostable environment. Compostable is better than Biodegradable, and we discuss it in our article “Why Use a Compostable Phone Case?”
These Organicore cases are certified to meet or exceed global testing standards ASTM D6400 and EN 13431 and have drop protection up to 8 ft from their Impact Struts technology. This technology is derived from proven protection tech in the automotive and sports industries.
Eden Reforestation Projects will plant 1 tree for every Incipio Organicore case sold.
Conclusion
Using a biodegradable phone case can cut down on pollution and plastic waste in our environment, and they are just as durable and reasonably priced as other plastic phone cases.
When looking for an eco-friendly phone case, you should look for a compostable phone case because biodegradable phone cases may not break down as quickly. There is plenty of material, design, and color options out there, so it isn’t hard to find the right choice for you.
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