Trend: Eco-Mobiles

Eco-friendly concept phones highlight the way of the future

Every day, over 420,000 cellphones are retired in the US, and the vast majority are still not recycled. E-waste is the fastest growing category of municipal waste in many countries across the world, and with the consumer electronics industry one of the fastest growing industries on the planet, many manufacturers are now looking at ways to minimize the environmental footprint of their products. The most innovative projects involve “cradle-to-cradle” initiatives which take into account energy and materials use (and re-use) throughout the life-cycle of the device.

Cases

Nokia Remade Concept Phone (Finland / Spain)

Unveiled at the Mobile World Congress conference in Barcelona in February, Nokia’s Remade concept phone is almost entirely composed of recycled materials. The innovative cellphone is made from “upcycled” materials like aluminum cans, plastic drink bottles, and old car tires. Inside the phone there are more eco-sensitive technologies such as printed electronics (which cut waste and carbon-dioxide emissions during manufacturing) and a backlit display which reduces energy use and prolongs battery life.

LINC Lifestyle Concept Phone (US)

This concept phone, known as the LINC Lifestyle, was showcased at the Greener Gadgets Conference in New York in February. It is the brainchild of US-based The Greener Grass eco-project, and packages a cellphone, media player, and web browser with GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi, and 3G network capabilities. The device can easily be disassembled into recyclable components — when upgrades are available the user receives new hardware and the previous component (or entire phone) is shipped back to the manufacturer, who is responsible for managing recycling of materials.

Kinetic powered Cell Phone (Portugal)

Designer Richardo Baiao balances green technology and mobility, with a phone for Atlas that is charged by kinetic energy. Inspired by watches that are powered from the motion of the wearer, the Atlas Concept phone is supplied with energy from its owner. Similarly, the French Designers of ModeLab unveiled three new eco-friendly cellphone concepts. All concepts rely on the movement of their users to automatically regenerate power and eliminating batteries entirely. U-turn for example is the concept for a business phone that draws energy from opening and closing the keyboard.

Trend Impact
Nokia is one of the leading players in ecologically sound cellphone design and recycling. As well as showing the way forward with concept phones such as the Remade, the company has also recently launched market-ready models such as the eco-friendly 3310 Evolve (only in Europe for now), and organized initiatives such as the Cell Phone Recycling Program in New York. The electronics industry has great potential to bring an extra “coolness” factor to the green movement, and the concept phones highlighted here show that when it comes to handsets, style, great functionality, and eco-friendliness don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

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