(Video link here.) This cool little video will open your eyes to the treasures that lie hidden inside the mobile phone you hold in your hand daily, especially precious metals, which are a limited resource. What’s In My Stuff? is an interdisciplinary research project which brings together scientists and artists to explore public awareness of the rare and precious minerals and chemical elements used in the everyday objects we all own and use.  It asks:

Do you know what’s in the stuff you use every day?

Do you know where the minerals in your things come from, how they’re extracted and how much is left on our planet?

Do you know how often do you discard something rare and precious without even realizing it?

And it shows you some of the beautiful objects that can be made from the salvaged innards of phones and other devices, like the jewelry by designer Maria Hanson who “reclaims, de-constructs, transforms and relocates material knowledge and fragments from mobile phones.  They highlight the way selected fragments are reworked and relocated; transforming the discarded into something precious and jewel-like.”

jewelry from cellphones
What’s My Stuff

reclaimed jewelry by Maria Hanson
What’s My Stuff?

via Unconsumption; photo courtesy What’s in My Stuff?

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One thought on “What’s in Your Stuff? precious metals in your phone

  1. The stuff inside our stuff: Not an easy issue to confront. The basic minerals inside cell phones has led to years of armed struggle (and the systematic rape of women) in the Congo. So, so much suffering for a phone or laptop, yet I would not be able to function without either piece of technology. The U.S. now regulates the use of conflict minerals (Dodd-Frank), but other countries from which we import do not and are major customers for Congolese minerals (China).

    Two relevant articles re Congo:
    http://www.raisehopeforcongo.org/content/initiatives/conflict-minerals
    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/15/world/africa/denis-mukwege-doctor-who-aids-rape-victims-returns-to-congo.html?_r=0

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