Upcycle Your Way To Financial Independence

One of the key traits that really helped me get to financial independence is using things until they completely wear out.  Yes, my lawnmower that was built in America in 1984 is still cutting my grass, two years after I wrote that post.  She’s old enough to be President now, and would be better than the choices we’ll have … (ok I’ll stop, this is a politics-free zone dammit!!)

Nevertheless, I keep things until they stop working and cannot be easily fixed.  My computer and tablet are 8 years old, and my laptop is 9.  My $89 phone is now over 3 years old and going strong.  They all work fine and I’m sticking with them until they die.  Sure, they’re slower than a shiny new one would be – a lot slower.

But here’s the thing, if I just bought new ones and threw the old ones out, I’d be participating in the “throw away culture” that America has become.  Which leads me to another trait that’s helped me get to financial independence – I’m an environmentalist. 

It disgusts me to see people just discard a perfectly good appliance because it isn’t the color they want anymore, or because it looks old and a bit shabby.  That’s irresponsible, and just puts more “stuff” into a world that increasingly can’t handle it. 

And if it’s an electronic device as so many things are nowadays, it’s even more irresponsible since electronic devices are full of toxic chemicals and metals.  Just tossing something like that because you don’t like it anymore – even though it still works – is not only delaying your path to financial independence, it’s bad for the planet.

 

The Reality

Electronic waste is a massive problem in the world, and growing exponentially.  This short article from Sustainability Times says “Last year alone a staggering 53.6 million metric tons of e-waste was generated globally, which was 21% more than just five years ago, according to a report by the United Nations.” 

It continues:

“This makes e-waste the world’s fastest-growing domestic waste stream, fueled mainly by higher consumption rates of electric and electronic equipment, short life cycles, and few options for repair,” observes the UN-affiliated Global E-waste Monitor 2020 report.

“This means that gold, silver, copper, platinum and other high-value, recoverable materials conservatively valued at $57 billion — a sum greater than the Gross Domestic Product of most countries — were mostly dumped or burned rather than being collected for treatment and reuse,” it adds.

And let’s not forget that Apple had to recently settle a class-action suit for deliberately engineering iPhones to slow down and force you to buy a new one.  I trust them as much as I’d trust Volkswagon… despicable.

Okay off the soapbox… I think many in the first world are aware of the basics of electronic waste but are also fueling it, and I’m not here to play the all-too-popular shame games. 

What I am here to do is highlight two ways I’ve extended the life of electronics way past their expected life, so that you may consider doing the same.

 

The Lithium Ion Whisperer

Lithium ion batteries are what run the vast majority of electronic gadgets today, and that includes Teslas and other electronic cars.  Bottom line – they’re toxic, and the extraction of the resources that go into making them is environmentally destructive.  And if you think “oh I just recycle them”, I hate to burst your bubble, but that process is very flawed and often creates more waste and environmental damage. 

Last month I broke my reliable Anker Astro 5200mAh battery pack.  The batteries inside are fine, but I got a cable hung up on something while walking and broke the USB charging port completely off, which cracked the board inside.  The batteries inside have tons of life left, but everything else was broken. 

YouTube to the rescue.  I found an easy-peasy way to salvage the batteries inside with a few cheap parts and some soldering.  And voila – I now have a nice DIY battery pack that might not look as good, but still works 100%. 

Most folks would have likely tossed it, but for $4.99 and about 20 minutes labor I extended it’s life.  And I learned about battery charging boards and 5-volt step-up power supplies in the process.  

After that success, I knew I had a few lithium ion batteries from an old LG phone and a broken Bluetooth speaker still doing nothing for me.  The great thing about most Android phones, as opposed to Apple, is that the batteries are removable.  So in the past I would purchase a spare battery to carry around in case I ran out of juice as it’s way smaller than most charging packs, and also cheaper. 

This video showed me there was an even better part to purchase that incorporates the battery charging board and the 5-volt step-up power supply in one unit.  So I bought it, and voila, I now have a 3000mAH power bank from one old battery, and a 4400mAH powerbank from two old batteries daisy chained together.  This repurposing of old stuff is also called upcycling.  I’m an upcycler.  

 

This did cost me $14.99, but that was for 4 charging board units.  I still have two left waiting to be put to use to give extra life to an old lithium ion battery.  Any old lithium ion battery that still has life can be soldered to these units and give new life to you by charging your phone, tablet etc. 

Lastly, let’s talk about that old LG phone…

 

Nest? We Don’t Need No Stinking Nest

As I said I don’t just replace a phone because I want a new one.  But my last LG phone developed a hardware issue and the GPS stopped working.  It was a good phone for $100 that lasted 3 years.  Everything else with the phone still worked, but I had to replace it since GPS navigation is one of the few things I rely on a smartphone for. 

I knew there was probably a way to make a webcam or security cam with it, but kept putting it off.  Then my street had a rash of vehicle break-ins, and some of my neighbors started having packages stolen from their porch. 

So I made a security cam with my old LG phone.  It couldn’t be easier to do, just follow these easy instructions.  You can even set up the system to record everything.  I now have my old LG phone spying on the street, and hopefully I’ll catch the little bastards that are thieving.  I’m an upcycling spy.

So there you have it.  I upcycled old lithium ion batteries and an old smartphone into nice power banks and a security camera.  That’s stuff I don’t have to buy, so I save money. 

And for the planet that’s a little relief as these devices that would normally just be thrown away by most are going to get a second life and hopefully be used for years to come. 

Reuse, upcycle, recycle, and if possible don’t buy it in the first place.  Lastly, achieve financial independence and go part time like I did so you have the time to do these ecologically friendly things!

Your Turn – Have you upcycled anything recently?

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