Shopper outraged after discovering concerning 'charger' products: 'They can use these to take control of your phone'

A Redditor was infuriated to discover disposable phone chargers.

The Redditor posted a few photos of the "Pop Chargers," which are labeled as pre-charged and disposable. In the caption, they wrote, "The company gives such little f**** about E Waste, that they couldn't even title the chargers as 'recyclable' to at least seem like they care."

E-waste is garbage created by electronics, which could be anything from a Nintendo Switch sitting in a landfill to an iPhone that was dropped into the ocean. Electronic waste can take an economic toll, as valuable materials are lost and labor is wasted. 

This type of waste can also endanger public health. Toxic chemicals can contaminate soil, water, and air. Plastic components break down into microplastics, and lithium batteries create fire hazards. This worsens pollution and impacts the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the soil your food grows in.

All e-waste is problematic, but single-use products like the Pop Charger are especially troubling. They likely take almost as much time, effort, and materials to make as a standard reusable charger. But these will wind up in a landfill after just one use. 

As the OP pointed out, labeling them as recyclable, which they probably are, might help reduce the waste. However, even recycling electronics is difficult. 

It's best to avoid disposable electronics like this entirely, such as disposable vapes or headphones. It will save you money in the long run, while also helping the economy and environment.

Commenters highlighted even more issues with these single-use chargers.

One person said, "Weren't these taken apart a few years ago on YouTube and found out they are actually rechargeable but so cheap they don't have a port? Such a waste and yes worse than AAs."

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Someone replied to that comment in agreement and explained, "Bigclivesdotcom has a video, and I believe he found one with the USB charger hidden by plastic." This forces consumers to buy the chargers again and again, wasting money.

Another commenter brought up security issues that can come along with devices like this, stating, "I saw an interesting video from that hacker expo about how they can use these to take control of your phone. It can put some malware and s*** on your device that makes it start uploading info to an online server they control."

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