Cell Phone Green-Tech Options

Everyone should know mobile phones are already helping us reduce our carbon footprints, by reducing travel; just like everyone should know browsing the net saves gas for a savvy shopper. Here's some news about the companies putting their green-tech awareness out there where shoppers can see it - and get excited.


* A Little Bad News
The concept of this article was to pat some forward-thinking corporations on the back by showcasing phones - re: recycled materials. The only problem is, one of the selected phones vanished. The maker's web site says "We're sorry; we didn't find any items matching… [The green-tech product they made]". Yikes...ok, well. Maybe it didn't sell. Maybe people didn't get into the groove. But the company still ought to have information lying around. The phone was only brought out in 2009. When the promo material was deeply archived a few months later, it was definitely a 'hmmm...' moment. Enough to make someone wonder if the company was just pounding sand when they introduced the phone in the first place. This was not intended as a bad news - good news article; but an extensive search of the maker's site revealed no mention of any serious efforts at advertising any subsequent green-tech product, or any sort of greening of their product line at all, and that's the bad news.

* The Great News
Green-tech phones are alive and well. Hello, Nokia and Samsung. Well done!

o A massive back-pat for Nokia.
Nokia was the first company to join "Save our Species", an organization dedicated to funding assistance for endangered species. Their site offers great messages such as: 100% of the materials in your phone can be recovered and used to make new products or generate energy. Nokia offers news articles on sustainability and recycling. They have a terrific little movie about how using a mobile device is greener than using a monster-sized computer with it attendant big screen. And Nokia has a link to the eco-profiles of all their devices. The Nokia message is: Created with the environment in mind.

o What about their green phones?
The Nokia N8, Nokia E7, Nokia C6-01 & Nokia C7 are their 100% recyclable, energy efficient phones. They are free of hazardous chemicals and contain bio plastics. In addition to those features, the Nokia C6-01 contains recycled metals and the Nokia C7 contains bio-based paints. Their packaging is also 100% recycled. Hurrah!

o A big back-pat for Samsung.
It was a little harder to find concrete information on the Samsung site about which of their phones were in fact green-tech. But one message spoke about screens that consumed less power than traditional touch screens, and another spoke about the availability of virtual user guides, to save paper. They too, had sustainability and recycling articles. Samsung's message was: What do you get with a phone that's built with recycled plastics, is hazardous-substance free and comes with all sorts of eco-themed apps and tools? You get a phone that fits your eco-friendly view as easily as it fits your pocket.

o What about their green phones?
The Reclaim is made with post-consumer plastics and water-based paint; it is free of hazardous chemical and has an energy star certified charger. Several other phones had the AMOLED low-power, energy-saving brilliant screen.

A few other sites made mention of green initiatives, but finding eco-profiles on their phones was virtually impossible. Both of these great companies are clearly dedicated to greening up the planet. How refreshing and exciting to not have to wade through archives to find information that should be proudly displayed.