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31 December 2025 How to reduce the environmental impact of wearable health-care devices A model quantifies the environmental footprint of wearable health-care electronics and identifies strategies to reduce their environmental toll. By Callie Babbitt ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5093-2314 0 Callie Babbitt Callie Babbitt is in the Golisano Institute for Sustainability, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, New York 14618, USA. View author publications PubMed Google Scholar
Personal wearable health technology is changing how patients and physicians collect data and make health-care decisions. Wearable devices for tracking health data range from smart watches that count steps to portable electrocardiogram monitors that track heart rhythms and continuous glucose monitors that can send alerts when blood glucose levels go out of range. These technologies can prevent health emergencies, predict risk factors and provide personalized insights for healthy lifestyles. However, the growing adoption of wearable technology might lead to unintended social, economic and environmental consequences. Writing in Nature, Yang et al.1 introduce a model that quantifies the environmental footprint of wearable health-care electronics and identifies solutions that can make the life cycles of these devices more sustainable.
Nature 649, 31-32 (2026)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-03982-w
References Yang, C. et al. Nature 649, 73–82 (2026). World Bank. Green Digital Transformation: How to Sustainably Close the Digital Divide and Harness Digital Tools for Climate Action (World Bank Group, 2023). Althaf, S. & Babbitt, C. W. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 167, 105248 (2021). Williams, E. D., Ayres, R. U. & Heller, M. Environ. Sci. Technol. 36, 5504–5510 (2002). Balde, C. P. et al. The Global E-Waste Monitor 2024 (International Telecommunication Union and United Nations Institute for Training and Resources, 2024); available at https://go.nature.com/4ahsb88. Masanet, E., Lei, N. & Koomey, J. Joule 8, 2427–2436 (2024). Hosseinian, A. et al. Glob. Chall. 9, e00118 (2025). Fu, Y., Wu, C. & Li, P. Humanit. Soc. Sci. Commun. 12, 1595 (2025). Download references
Competing Interests The author declares no competing interests.
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