Written by Arnav Gill
In the age of the ever-expanding competition between the giants of Silicon Valley that produce new tech every four months; a different initiative is arriving on campus encouraging recycling electronics.
As the shops gear up for the Christmas market, electronic recycling pop-up shop Tech-Takeback are offering free data swipes on phones or other electronics and offering the chance to recycle them this week.
Students will be able to recycle a wide selection of electronics including memory cards, USB sticks. DVD’s, CD’s, and more. You can catch the group at Falmer House on November 22 from 10 am – 6 pm and November 23 from 10 am – 5 pm. The group work closely with local authorities and charities to promote the re-use of old tech, and to give back to many in Brighton and Hove who may not be able to afford new items.
Their work shall come as a breath of fresh air following the weekend bulge of Black Friday that market experts predict will once again bring mass sales both in the UK and across the Atlantic. However many are predicting a decline in retail intake this week following a continued fall of sales in the last fiscal quarter.
However, they suggest this fall is compounded with a shift to online marketplaces over high-street shops. The Springboard Group which tracks shopping patterns is forecasting a 3.7% drop in sales for high-street shops over online retailers, to be expected on this Friday alone.
The steady shift to online purchases has not gone unnoticed by major online retailers including Amazon who continued from last year starting Black Friday sales a week before high-street retailers. Last year’s Black Friday sales saw online retailers turning in £1.4bn in online sales, slashing into the high-street market by 3.6%.
In addition, the now highly regarded Cyber Monday has given online retailers yet another day to earn a considerable amount on tech. Across the Atlantic, in the United States alone $6.59bn was earned by online retailers during this single day last year.
Photo: Phil Campbell, Flickr.
