A spouse's post in the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit has reached viral status with 9.6K upvotes. In it, they wrote of their annoyance with their wife, who consistently replaces her wireless earbuds each time she loses just one earbud.Â
Pictured along with the post are three wireless earbud cases. Redditors were quick to point out the harm this does for the environment, as it triples electronic waste (e-waste) — a growing problem throughout the globe.
"At what point do you just buy wired earphones?" asked one perplexed commenter.
When wireless earbuds became ubiquitous with the introduction of Apple's AirPods and other products in 2016, consumers were immediately suspicious of how much waste would accumulate — not just from losing an earbud but also from getting rid of wired earphones. Now, especially with phones changed to be used exclusively with wireless earphones, the OP's wife is not the only one opting to rebuy. Indeed, the comment section included other photos of people with multiple wireless earphone cases tossed because they lost one earphone.
"One time I had an AirPod commit magic and just disappear," wrote one commenter. They watched their AirPod fall to the ground and never saw it again.
The World Health Organization estimates that e-waste is "one of the fastest growing solid waste streams in the world," with an estimated 68 million tons of e-waste produced globally. Where usually e-waste can be recycled, it was documented that only 22.3% of the waste was "formally collected and recycled."
E-waste is an enormous contributor to landfills, polluting the air and water supplies humans rely on. Lead is commonly released when e-waste is recycled, stored, or dumped into the environment, per the WHO.
Reflecting on OP's wife's "expensive habit," Redditors offered some suggestions.
"Get her AirPods and use FindMy to find the missing AirPod when she loses it," wrote one commenter.
"Fun thing," another Redditor wrote. "I have the same brand. You can pair those with TILE app and it'll help if you lose them.
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