“Taking Care” Is an Act — A Beginning Toward Feeling Better

How Can We Take Care about Our Connected Devices and Batteries?

You may have noticed that more and more connected devices are appearing around us, making our lives easier.

These devices typically contain Lithium-ion (Li-Ion) batteries. It’s important to remember that taking care of our batteries is a sustainable and positive action. It doesn’t necessarily require much time or energy—just a bit of organization.

Guidelines for Lithium-Ion Batteries

1. Never Let the Battery Stay at 0%

One of the most important rules is to avoid leaving your battery completely empty. The longer it stays at 0%, the more it reduces the battery’s lifespan. Be aware of this key habit.

2. Avoid Keeping It Plugged In Constantly

Ideally, we should avoid leaving Li-Ion batteries plugged in all the time. When always plugged in, the battery continuously charges to 100%, discharges to 99%, and recharges again—this repetitive cycle reduces battery longevity.

If you are storing a connected device for some time, try to keep the battery charged to at least around 60%, and recharge it occasionally to help preserve its life.

Also, every 2–3 months, it’s beneficial to fully discharge the battery to 0% and then immediately recharge it to 100% to reset battery calibration.

However, with modern devices, frequent plugging and unplugging isn’t always practical, and we often forget to reconnect spare batteries. In some cases, keeping a device plugged in may be better than letting the battery drain completely.

Fortunately, some new operating systems, such as certain Linux distributions, already include battery management options—like stopping charging at 100% and only resuming when it drops to 60%.

Do We Need Large Internal Batteries in Laptops?

With the evolution of computing, laptops have replaced traditional desktops—but do we really need a big internal battery if the laptop is always used in one place?

Future designs might allow laptops to use external power banks, keeping only a small internal battery for safety or emergency backup.

Voltage and Amperage for Electronic Devices

Pay attention to the electrical ratings (voltage and amperage) written on your connected devices. These values are important to ensure proper and safe charging.

Today’s electronic materials support different voltage levels, like 5V or 12V, and they usually have different connector types, so you cannot mix 5V and 12V connectors—they are physically incompatible.

However, amperage is more flexible.

For example:

• A 5V charger may have 0.5A Output, and another 5V charger may have 2A Output.
• Voltage mix-ups can be dangerous, but amperage mismatches usually are not.
• The device will only draw the amount of amperage it needs, as long as the voltage is correct.

It’s best to use a charger with the same voltage and at least the same (or higher) amperage as the device.

For example:

A 5V / 2A charger can safely power a device rated for 5V / 1A.

Important: A charger cannot supply more amperage than it is rated for. If a device needs more than the charger can provide, it will charge slowly or not at all.

A Sustainable Future with USB-C

The good news is that most new high-tech devices are moving toward the USB-C standard. This transition simplifies compatibility, reduces waste, and allows us to reuse the same charger and cable, even when we change devices—supporting greater sustainability.