Green Options » cell phones

With Vodafone Italian Phones Have a Lot of Energy

Eva Pratesi — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:50:35 +0000

From a recent survey Italy turns out to be the first consumer of cell phones in Europe, with an average of 1.22 per head. Italians change them like dresses and the result is a huge amount of old cells in their houses. This passion for cell phone communication is all too audible on crosswalks, motorbikes, restaurants, theatres… Italians just have an unquenchable desire to talk and you can see people shouting into cell phones and not looking where they are going..

What about the waste management of these “prosthesis” of our hands??

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Apple Looks at Solar to Power Next Generation of Mobile Devices

Courtney Carlisle — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 06:00:01 +0000

A couple weeks ago Apple filed a patent to explore the use of solar power in their next generation of mobile devices. With battery life being a long running issue for Apple’s laptops and mobile phones, solar power could help extend use time without having to plug in.

The patent filing discusses placing the solar technology behind the LCD screen of the devices so that the panels would absorb ambient light without adding additional width and bulk to the device. While the technology could be difficult to implement (Motorola filed a similar patent for their mobile devices in 2001 but is yet to be able to successfully integrate solar technology into their devices), having a company as large and influential as Apple roll it out could mean cross product integration with iPods and MacBooks in addition to the iPhone.

The company takes a lot of knocks for not being environmentally conscientious, but downloading tracks and movies instead of buying copies and using maps on mobile instead of printing directions does help limit impact. Making their products more energy efficient is a winning venture for the mega-brand.

Cell Phones and Cancer-

Katy Farber — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 14:26:48 +0000

I’ve been following the stories about cell phones and cancer closely. It’s not that I use mine very often (in fact, I can rarely find it), and coverage is spotty in rural Vermont. No, I am thinking about all of my students who probably started using cell phones in the seventh grade, and do so heavily (can you say teenager and phones?) now as high school students. I also think of my young daughters, growing up quickly, and their many years of cell phone use when they are older (much, much older-).

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Green Mobile: How Cell Phone Makers Stack Up

Courtney Carlisle — Sat, 10 May 2008 03:11:28 +0000

Having spent a lot of time in the wireless industry and being hopelessly addicted to my Blackberry and my Helio Ocean, I wanted to take a look at how manufacturers and carriers stand up when it comes to enviro-friendly action.

Nokia: Remaking Mobile
Nokia is one of my favorite handset manufacturers. Not only do they have some amazing concept devices, such as the Nokia Remade, a handset made entirely of pre-used parts from old tires to aluminum cans, they also currently have working devices on the market that are reducing impact. With covers made of recycled material and chargers that are Energy Star compliant and then some, Nokia is making bold strides in the right direction.

The 3110 Evolve’s biocover is made with 50% renewable material, and the packaging has been reduced by 60% for the handset. Along the a charger that uses 94% less energy that Energy Star compliance requires.

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The Art of Communication

Jake Kulju — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:05:28 +0000

Recycled cell phones as art.

Boston, Mass.—In yesterday’s Boston Globe, I came across an article in the Lifestyle/Green Living section that really caught my eye…and my ear. An art student from Allston, Mass. has an installation in Boston’s School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA) that consists entirely of discarded cellular phones.

Rob Pettit, 26, has been spending months collecting, sorting and arranging old cell phones, even using their ring tones and camera shots in some of his pieces.

“It’s just interesting to see what an explosion of products [this is], and realizing that every time you get one, it’s on the verge of being replaced by another,” Pettit told the Boston Globe. “There’s an estimated half a billion cellphones just sitting in people’s desk drawers.”

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The Secret Life of Cell Phones

Jennifer Lance — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 20:37:19 +0000

This story contains additional media. Click here to view the media.

Stop Talking on That Cell Phone

Jennifer Lance — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 04:39:11 +0000

Cell phones could kill far more people than smoking or asbestos, suggests award-winning cancer expert Dr Vini Khurana. Dr. Khurana says people should avoid using mobile phones whenever possible, and governments must take “immediate steps” to reduce exposure to their radiation. He concludes that “there is a significant and increasing body of evidence for a link between mobile phone usage and certain brain tumours”

source: truthout.org

image: webwiseforradio.com

A green biz guide to recycling electronics - Origin Design does “Mission Zero”

Olga Orda — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:32:25 +0000

Photos by Chris Jordan | “Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption”

Design Goes Green - The first of a series of articles by Green Printer on the cross-section between the environment, business and the creative communications industry.

According to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, used or unwanted electronics amounted to 1.9 to 2.2 million tons in 2005, with most of that ending up in landfills. We did a post earlier on the how the chemicals that seep into the soil, even decades later, can have harmful human health effects and the fact that heaps of the stuff are often left abandoned in developing countries.

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