Looking around your home can be alarming when you clock just how many products contain animal-based ingredients. If you’re staring at your phone, TV, or camera, you might find yourself wondering whether these items are likely to be vegan.
Unfortunately, there’s no straightforward answer to whether electronics are vegan or not. Some electronics may not directly contain animal products in their production chain, although mining for the necessary materials may be harmful to animal habitats. Child labor is also a major concern in the production of electronics.
We’ll use this article to find out more about whether electronics are generally considered vegan or whether they are something you should avoid.
Are Electronics Usually Vegan?
There’s very limited information on what counts as a vegan product when it comes to electronics, unfortunately. Because electronics are such a broad category and there are so many aspects to veganism, it’s quite tricky to assess whether any one device is vegan or not.
For that reason, we’ll look at the following categories:
- Are the components vegan?
- Are the labor practices ethical?
Let’s dive a bit deeper to understand whether or not electronics are actually vegan.
Are The Components Vegan?
This will depend on the electronic device in question, but in many cases, no. A lot of electronics use non-vegan components or components that require some animal products in their production process. This is often quite complicated, unfortunately.
For example, let’s look at a laptop computer.
A laptop generally contains a battery, which will often have gelatin in, as a means of improving the structure of the metal. A laptop also has an LCD screen, which will sometimes contain cholesterol that is taken from animals.
The same would be true for a cell phone. Additionally, the plastic used to make the components and the casing is likely to contain animal products – although not all plastics do. Unfortunately, there is rarely going to be a way to find out for sure one way or another, because most manufacturers don’t advertise their plastic as vegan.
Furthermore, the adhesives that are used in many electronics are often formed using animal derivatives. There’s nothing to say that they definitely will be – but there’s also no guarantee that they won’t be.
Those are just a few examples to demonstrate that in many cases, the components in electronics aren’t vegan. That might be frustrating, but it is sadly the case. Overall, it’s unlikely that all of the components inside a complicated piece of electronic equipment will be vegan, simply because so many products aren’t.
Are The Labor Practices Ethical?
Ethics tie in closely with veganism, and if you don’t want an animal to be harmed to produce your electronics, that’s probably going to extend to opposing cruel labor practices. Electronics are notorious for the lack of protection in the production line.
Many of the components found in electronics need to be mined in ways that are considered unsafe and may cause suffering. Minerals like cobalt are key for certain electronics and are often mined in dangerous conditions, frequently by children in impoverished countries, for very little pay.
At present, no true “fair trade” options exist for minerals like this, so there’s no way of making sure you choose ethical products that protect laborers. Almost all electronics will utilize rare minerals that have at least some association with slave labor and suffering.
Furthermore, the conditions in electronics factories are notoriously bad, with Apple and HP coming under scrutiny in 2010 (and then again later several years later) for suicides in their suppliers’ factories.
This is very frustrating – but it means that the short answer is that no, the labor practices that are involved in the creation of most electronics are not ethical.
Should Vegans Use Electronics?
Unfortunately, it is currently very difficult to exist in the world without purchasing and using electronics. Smartphones, computers, TVs, and cameras are pretty much critical to life as we know it, and it’s extremely hard to function without them.
This leaves many vegans in challenging positions. It can be tricky to make ethical choices and purchase electronics, as you’ll be aware if you spend any amount of time investigating the labor and materials needed to create them.
However, in most cases, this is something that you’ll have to compromise on.
One way that many vegans avoid the issue is by purchasing second-hand electronics so that they aren’t directly contributing to labor abuses and habitat destruction.
This isn’t a perfect solution, but it may make you feel a little easier about the situation.
Conclusion
As you can see, veganism in electronics is a pretty complex topic, and you’ll likely need to do in-depth research about specific electronics if you want to learn more. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that you will find truly vegan electronic products at the moment, but hopefully, these will become more available as consumer demand for them grows.
