The very idea of buying a new phone to save the environment is ludicrous, and many people are going to believe it. These are the same people who would have trusted the studies showing lead gasoline is safe because the company hired experts.
Buying a new phone and tossing out the old one is the least environmentally sustainable behavior you could have... just go burn some tar sands; it's probably better for the environment than Apple's ocean garbage. At least the vegetation can eventually capture the carbon again.