It's no secret that e-waste is a big problem. According to the United Nations, in 2022, the amount of thrown-away electronics would fit into a line of trucks that could circle the equator.

When I was doing a big tech declutter recently, I came face-to-face with a big culprit: the small gadgets we buy all the time have plenty of extra accessories we don't need.

After carrying a huge bag of unwanted charging wires, headphone cables, and power blocks to my local electronics recycling location, I can't help but wish manufacturers would cut down on what they make us buy.

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Or terrible, throwaway earbuds, either

Cleaning out years of technology

Everything's gotta go

After moving to a new home, I decided that my cupboard of tech was something I wasn't willing to haul across my city. Lots had to go.

Plenty of this stash were review devices which I hadn't gotten around to returning to companies or publications, and this was easy to get rid of.

I also motivated myself to throw away the boxes of the gadgets I use every day. What's the point of keeping these?

I donated other gadgets I'd bought or received to friends and family who needed an upgrade. All that was left was a smaller collection of gadgets that I wanted to keep for testing and comparison purposes.

Still, I have a fairly large mound of tech clutter which I need to dispose of.

The growing e-waste mound

Finding relics, and lots of cables

A lot of what I needed to dispose of was empty boxes, but I didn't want to throw these in the trash. I spent a long time removing the innards and flattening them for recycling.

In doing so, I had to contend with everything I was removing from these boxes. I was startled to see how quickly my mound of unwanted accessories grew as I stripped more and more boxes.

Every box offered up a charging cable, usually USB-A to USB-C or USB-C to USB-C. The age of this tech stash showed when I found several micro USB cables.

But there was a lot more. In some boxes, I found mains power plugs, and when dealing with my headphone purchases, I found plenty of 3.5mm to 3.5mm cables (and a few that ended in 4.4mm).

Some companies offer you really solid, useful cables. The red one you see in the above images is from OnePlus. I find their in-box accessories worthwhile.

But plenty more were cheap. They didn't power up devices fast, were incredibly short, felt like they'd break easily, or came in toxic-smelling plastic bags which I didn't want to open.

Why had these cables never been unboxed?

Who needs more charging cables?

There's a really simple reason why 99% of my phone, tablet, and accessory boxes haven't had their cables removed before now.

We don't need many charging cables. I only use two frequently: a fast one for my laptop and tablet, and a slow charger for my phone and earbuds, which I leave by the bedside table.

I'd wager that most people are the same. I don't know a single person who has more than two chargers, and plenty of my friends only use one for everything.

Many other Android Police writers have discussed how we don't need more USB-C cables. And it's true, it'd be better to buy the best phone charger rather than rely on in-box ones.

Owning a single charging cable is uncomplicated and fuss-free, and so when you receive one with a new device, there's usually no need to replace your current option with one.

I have no doubt that I'm in the majority in ignoring them. These extra chargers and cables are e-waste before the lid has even been lifted on the box.

The earbud problem was bad too

Want a good fit? I'll give you a tip

Credit: Michael Bizzaco / Android Police

Perhaps my most plentiful device in the stash was earbuds. I review these constantly, and often buy ones for my own testing purposes. My declutter offered up so, so many ear tips.

Earbud companies often give you a range of sizes and materials of ear tips. Our ears are all different, so it's important that there be multiple options so you can get a good fit.

But do all those options need to come in the box? In multiple earbud boxes, I found over ten tips, and most people will stick to the two they like.

If you want to get a good fit, it's easier to buy the best ear tips online. Most earbuds have standardized connectors, so you can find the perfect fit and then attach them to your buds.

We pay for all these accessories

Nothing's really free

Some people defend these in-box extras as part of the package you pay for. If companies stopped shipping charging cables, you'd get less for your money.

I don't imagine companies would sell reduced phones if they stopped bundling chargers. Certain brands like Xiaomi, Sony, and Apple have reduced the number of cables they put in products, and the costs didn't change.

But with the memory crisis causing tech to get more expensive, ditching the charging cable and power block could be a great place where brands could make savings.

That's not to mention it'd help with the growing mountain of e-waste we're producing and stop me having to do irregular trips to my local electronics recycler.

Some Android Police writers aren't worried about the increasing cost of smartphones, but I am, and I'd be very happy to receive fewer in-box extras if it meant phones sold for the same price.