Material Progress is an independent journal for people who have started asking harder questions about the products they buy: how they are made, who makes them, and what happens when they are finished.
You know the camera and storage. You almost certainly do not know where the cobalt came from, what happens when this device becomes e-waste, or that most lifetime emissions happened before you turned it on.
Read the issueEarlier issues
You probably paid more for a smaller bar. Across milk, white, and dark, cocoa can sit below what the word chocolate implies — plus metals on dark, non-recyclable wrap, and farmers near 6% of shelf price.
Read the issueThink about the last pair of sneakers you retired. Here is what most likely happened next: they went to landfill — and why take-back programs and audits have left the hardest parts of the problem almost untouched.
Read the issue