A new Australian company aims to give more environmentally conscious individuals the ability to find gadgets with green gear in mind.
The world is changing and how we make gadgets is changing with it. In the past decade, we’ve seen many a company switch to a more ecologically friendly approach to technology, and more is happening.
For instance, we’re seeing ocean plastic make its way into cases, earphones made from the plastic of bottles, and improvements to packaging so there’s less unnecessary plastic. Manufacturers are taking notice of a need to be more green, and things are changing.
But it can still be a little rare to find forward thinking in technology production, and if you live a more green life than others, you might find it a struggle looking for gadgets that have been made with environmental factors in mind.
If that’s you, an Australian company might just have your needs catered for with an eco-savvy approach to technology in how it conducts business.
Our Pure Planet bills itself as “the only 100% eco-friendly electronics company”, and has come about from two Aussies with an idea, developing a technology manufacturer that seemingly cares about the environment in everything it does. Rather than focus on one part of its manufacturing, Our Pure Planet aims to be forward thinking in its approaches thanks to a partnership with the Plastic Collective and how it uses the plastic.
Specifically, the company notes that its cables sport up to 80 percent recycled plastic and metals, while the headphones it’s releasing are 200 percent plastic regenerative by offsetting twice the plastic being used in its gear. While that could come across as jargon, it translates to a logic of if 500 grams of plastic are used to make a pair of headphones, the company spends the money to remove 1 kilogram from entering the ocean, where it will be sorted, recycled, and then reused.
“Around eight million pieces of plastic end up in the ocean each day, which has devastating impacts on our wildlife,” said James Mcphie, Co-founder of Our Pure Planet.
“It didn’t make sense there wasn’t an eco-friendly option for electronics, given everyone owns them, and 90 per cent of consumers would switch brands for a worthwhile cause,” he said.
The company’s foray into headphones has seen a commitment to 25 percent recycled plastic by the end of the year, with two headphones released: a pair of truly wireless noise cancelling earbuds and a pair of on-ear noise cancelling headphones.
For the truly wireless Signature EarPods, Our Pure Planet is using 13mm titanium coated drivers with up to 54 hours of listening time, split between 9 hours of listening in the earbuds and several charges in the case (by our count, that would put it at five).
Meanwhile, the Signature Headphones are headphones that sit around the ear and appear to be modelled much like the Sony WH-1000XM2 and Razor THX Opus, complete with touch controls on faux leather, a titanium-coated driver, and up to 40 hours of battery life.
Regardless of the product, everything Our Pure Planet makes comes in a biodegradable box printed with water-based ink and no plastic, while the company itself is billed as carbon neutral, as well, with the focus of the gear seemingly on being better for the environment.
“If I asked 10 of my mates if they’d switch to a brand that was eco-friendly, all of them would say yes. If I asked them to do two or three things differently, I’d probably have nine drop off,” said Mcphie.
“This is why we’ve committed not only making our products sustainable, but to making sure they work really well.”
Our Pure Planet’s headphones are on their way to Officeworks stores across Australia, where they’ll be priced at $199.99 for the truly wireless Signature EarPods and $249.99 for the Signature Headphones.
