I counted every gadget in my home for Earth Day — and the results surprised me
Sustainable Development Week 2026
This article is part of a series of sustainability-themed articles we are publishing to celebrate Earth Day 2026 and promote more sustainable practices. Discover all our content from Sustainable Development Week 2026.
I never felt the need to have the latest technology. I was actually still using an iPhone 7 when I joined TechRadar in 2023, because I never really bought into the upgrade cycle (honestly, you probably don’t need a new phone every one to two years).
That changed quickly (perks of the job), but not my general approach. I always try to keep my personal technology to a minimum – well, as much as possible when you write about gadgets for a living. Granted, my idea of ”minimal” is probably not the same as most people’s, so a little context helps.
Looking at United Nations Trade and Development data (referenced by Staista), the average person owned 9.4 devices in Western Europe and 13 in the United States in 2023. These numbers have likely increased since then, but even a conservative estimate would put them closer to 11 and 16 today, respectively.
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This makes me feel a lot better about myself, because my current tech total (not counting accessories like a MagSafe charger and portable mouse) is 17. This includes larger tech devices like my robovac and coffee machine, but not devices I use that aren’t technically mine, like my work 16-inch MacBook Pro and my partner’s Xbox Series X.
Counting my unused technologies that I keep thinking I’ll use again
On top of that, I also have a growing pile of gadgets stored in drawers and cupboards. From a second-hand Cambridge Audio amp and speakers to my trusty Canon DSLR (which I refuse to part with), this collection has slowly been built up over the 12 years I’ve lived in London.
Not counting my old Nintendo 64 and iPod Classic stored at home, I found 11 unused gadgets, which roughly equates to a new device almost every year. This actually lines up with a survey by musicMagpie, which found that UK households have up to 11 unused devices lying around.
And yes, I have used them all at some point. There was the brief phase where I thought about becoming a travel vlogger and buying a DJI Osmo Plus, and the phase where I bought the Instax Mini Link 2 to save money on photo prints. Like most technologies, they made sense at the time, but have since been abandoned.
For whatever reason, whether it’s a new law that restricts drones weighing more than 250g or just a much-needed upgrade, I’ve given up on these once-beloved gadgets – and I know I’m not alone. MPB, an online marketplace for second-hand camera equipment, has discovered that there is more than £1 trillion of unused technology in UK, EU and US homes.
All the Ways I Considered Responsibly Disposing of My Unused Tech
Armed with my take-home box of gadgets, I set about researching the best ways to finally get rid of my overload of gear that I was clinging to because I might one day use it again. Of course, it’s not as simple as throwing them in the trash, especially since e-waste contains harmful materials. Despite this, according to the Geneva Environment Network, only around 20% is properly recycled worldwide.
As a first port of call, I started by looking at resale and trade-in options – hey, with trade tariffs and the RAM chip crisis driving up the cost of technology, it makes sense to get into the used market, right? But since most of my devices were over five years old, their value had declined significantly. Quotes from reselling platforms and trade-in programs like Swappa, Amazon Trade-In, and BackMarket were minimal and often insufficient to justify the effort.
Aside from reusing old technology, there remained two realistic options: passing them on to someone who would actually use them or recycling them properly. Fortunately, recycling has become easier in the UK thanks to new rules that require major retailers to offer free drop-off points for small electronics and collect large appliances, making it much more convenient than heading to your local waste collection centre.
With these new recycling rules focused on the circular economy, manufacturers have also launched more recycling and take-back programs over the past year. The most recent was Insta360 in the US, which also accepts equipment from other brands like DJI, but there are also other big names like Samsung. It’s worth checking directly with a brand, as many have partnered with third-party companies like Recommerce to launch or expand their trade-in programs.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this whole experience, it’s that the smartest upgrade you make this year may not be a new gadget. Instead, it’s about finally letting go of the ones we don’t use, and while Earth Day may seem like a good time to do it, it’s a habit worth keeping up all year long.
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