Chromebooks’ lifespans cost Mass. schools and the environment, new report finds

A new report finds that many of the Chromebook computers that were distributed to students in Massachusetts at the beginning of the pandemic are now failing and becoming toxic waste.

The report from the U.S. Public Interest Research Group looked at the impact of what is known as the “Chromebook Churn” — or the cycle where schools buy and return the Google laptops after a few years because they break, or can’t run up-to-date software.

Lucas Rockett Gutterman, the report’s author and the director of PIRG’s “Designed to Last” campaign, said Chromebooks have a built-in “death date,” when laptops can no longer access certain websites. In Massachusetts, local educators report that expired laptops can’t access online state testing websites like the MCAS.

“The least we can do for students who rely on their laptops is ensure these devices are durable and repairable,” he said.

PIRG found that the over 31 million Google Chromebooks that were sold around the world at the onset of the pandemic in 2020 make up around 8.9 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions. Rockett Gutterman said doubling the lifespan of Chromebooks in Massachusetts schools would have the same environmental impact as taking 17,000 cars off the road for an entire year. Nationally, that figure is 900,000 cars.

“We are just on this disposability treadmill where we keep buying new phones and laptops and appliances when they break and stop working,” he said. “And our environment can't afford that anymore.”

The group presented their findings outside the Google office in Cambridge on Tuesday — joined by Monese Genao, a senior at Worcester Technical High School who helps repair Chromebooks at her school.

“We have to [return] older models [at school] when they’re in pretty good condition,” she said. “I feel like we should still be able to use the computer regardless of the model. ... It’s just sad seeing all these nice computers being put to waste.”

The report also collected data through interviews with local repair technicians — including David Webb, who owns Hamilton Computer Repairs in Worcester.

“My business opened in 2012, and everything was moderately repairable then,” Webb said. “These days everything breaks when you open it ... because of the way these companies designed their model.”

PIRG is asking Google increase the life of its Chromebooks from four years to eight, which the organization says could save Massachusetts schools around $34 million — and save taxpayers $1.8 billion nationally, assuming no maintenance costs.

In a statement, a Google spokesperson said the company is working with hardware partners to increase the lifespan of the Chromebook.

“Since 2020, we now provide eight years of automatic updates, up from five years in 2016,” the spokesperson said. “We also are always working with our device manufacturing partners to increasingly build devices across segments with post-consumer recycled and certified materials that are more repairable, and over time use manufacturing processes that reduce emissions.”

Along with its demands for Google, PIRG is also working with local lawmakers to pass legislation on the digital “right to repair.” , which would require manufacturers to give owners and repair technicians the “tools, information and parts” needed to repair broken technology.