I’ve got a drawer full of them, and so have you. Chargers: they proliferate and either go to landfill (though they needn’t) or you hang onto them in case you need a spare. But ten, a dozen, spares? I think not.
Every phone I’ve had has had a charger in the box. Occasionally, that’s necessary – the plug changes (charge jack, micro USB, USB C) or the brick itself gets more powerful. Even so, though my collection falls into distinct groups, each group includes at least four absolutely identical bricks. I don’t need them all, and I never did.
So, what about making the charger an optional extra? Yes, my latest device came with a 15 watt unit that exploits its slightly-rapid capability, but that unit will probably be adequate for its successor too. It’s not absolutely necessary – your top-of-the-range monster may be capable of lightning fast charging, but the brick in the box was probably a standard one. They’ve made the powerful one an optional extra already.
So, let’s sell phones on their own, with nothing else in the box. (No, as a matter of fact, I don’t need another set of cheapo earphones either). If you need a new charger, add one on and, if you don’t, that’s one less piece of landfill fodder. It won’t make the phone appreciably cheaper, but it’s a little boost for the environment.
