Electricals Green Calculator: Your Carbon Saving
Every gadget that is used again, instead of thrown away and replaced, saves the carbon it would take to make a new one. Tap what you’re giving below to see an estimate of what your clear-out could save. Then book a free doorstep collection for your small electricals and make it happen.
- Takes seconds
- Cautious estimates
- Free doorstep collection
Behind the numbers
How we work it out
We turn what you give into kilos
We count a full bag of small electricals as 7.5 kg. Single items have their own typical weights: a mobile phone 0.2 kg, headphones 0.3 kg, a tablet 0.5 kg, a hairdryer 0.6 kg, a Bluetooth speaker 0.8 kg, a radio 1 kg and a laptop 2 kg. A well-filled bag often weighs more, so this keeps the answer on the low side.
We work out what using them again saves
For every kilo of electricals used again instead of made new, we estimate a saving of 5 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent. A laptop at 2 kg comes to an estimated 10 kg of CO2e, and a full bag comes to about 37.5 kg.
We add it all up
Everything you tap is added together to give one total for your clear-out. It is a rough guide to what your gadgets could save, not a measurement of your own items.
What does CO2e mean?
Carbon dioxide equivalent. Making electricals releases several greenhouse gases, and CO2e adds them up as the amount of carbon dioxide that would warm the planet by the same amount.
Why does making new cost so much?
Most of a gadget’s carbon is spent before you ever switch it on: mining the metals, making the chips and screens, and shipping the parts. Using a working gadget again means a new one doesn’t have to be made.
Why “estimated”?
Every gadget is different, so no calculator can be exact. We would rather understate what you save than overstate it, so 5 kg a kilo is our own cautious estimate, used for small electricals only.
Make it count
How to make your saving bigger
- Give gadgets that work. Those are the ones that get used again.
- Check the whole house: drawers, the loft, the home office and kitchen cupboards for toasters, blenders and other small appliances.
- Clear your data and sign out of your accounts on old phones, tablets and laptops before you pack them.
- Pack everything into bags or boxes on your doorstep, so nothing gets lost or damaged.
- Take anything broken to your local electricals recycling point, rather than the bin.
There is plenty to find. Material Focus estimates that 880 million unused electrical items are being kept in UK homes, about 30 for every household. Not sure what to include? See what electricals can I donate?, or read why using a gadget again beats making a new one on how donating electricals helps the planet.
Ready to clear out? Book a free collection. It’s free, you don’t need to be in, and you choose the charity your donation supports.
Sources
- Saving per kilo: our own estimate of 5 kg of CO2e for each kilo of small electricals reused instead of made new.
- Item weights: typical weights for each kind of gadget, rounded for a cautious answer.
- Unused electricals in UK homes: Material Focus, Electrical Waste: Challenges and Opportunities (28 March 2024), 2023 figure.
Ready to donate your small electricals?
It’s free, you don’t need to be at home, and you choose the charity your donation supports.