The "world's first zero-carbon, zero-waste" city?

I came across this one this morning. I'm looking forward to your comments.
Enjoy

A Very Earthy Phone

Image Source: NTT DOCOMO

I just can’t seem to get away from this topic, but this one looks different (literally). The folks at NTT DOCOMO have come out with a prototype phone made from…wood! Well, the case at least is “made with the surplus wood of trees culled during thinning operations to maintain healthy forests.” They point out that such a use of surplus wood “helps to preserve other wood resources while strengthening the health of overgrown forests.” It appears to be equipped with the full array of applications that we have come to expect, and it even smells good. “No artificial colors or paints are used, so the cypress retains its original natural appearance and aroma.” The phone’s press release claims that the method used to compress the wood makes it durable, insect resistant, and water resistant.

Once again, the last thing an environmental posting should do is accelerate perceived obsolescence by encouraging you to scrap your perfectly good phone. In addition to being interesting from a forestry perspective, the people at http://www.treehugger.com/ are hoping that the quality of a wooden phone “people might keep them longer than the average 18 months before upgrading again.”

According to NTT DOCOMO, “The prototype was created in collaboration with Sharp Corporation, Olympus Corporation and "more trees," a reforestation project.”

I was unable to find out when consumers will be able to get their hands on these phones. At this point the phones are scheduled to be exhibited at industry trade shows in Switzerland and Japan this fall.

Before we jump on the bioplastics bandwagon…

When I first heard about plastics made from something renewable like corn instead of petroleum, that are biodegradable…I could only say count me in! As I write this I have several pens around me made from bioplastics. I also have a bioplastic cafeteria tray, fork, bowl, and cup sitting on the shelf behind me. But last week I read about another side of these bioplastics.

I first learned that not all bioplastics are biodegradable. But they are still made from renewable resources and that’s an improvement at least. Isn’t it??? Maybe not. Studies conducted by Dr. Tillman Gengross at Dartmouth College have pointed out some of the less green features of bioplastics. His studies have shown that in terms of bioplastics production it’s “almost a wash” with conventional plastics production. “In fact, the energy consumption is significantly higher.”
Accroding to Dr. Gengross:

• Turning oil into a plastic requires considerably less energy than turning corn sugar into plastics.
• Generating glucose (most commonly from corn) requires a significant amount of energy and usually the use of fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, etc.
• Land used for producing this glucose is not sequestering the carbon dioxide in the way it would if left in a natural state.
• Corn grown for bioplastics is competing with corn grown for eating or feeding to livestock.
  
  That’s not all… “if these materials end up in landfills they will degrade in landfills at a rather slow rate. But because of the anaerobic environment in landfills, the carbon that is released is not released in the form of carbon dioxide, it is mostly released in the form of methane. And methane is a very potent greenhouse gas. It’s about twenty times more potent than carbon dioxide.”
  
  Dr. Gengross says he isn't promoting either side but would prefer to see us taking a more critical look “not this fuzzy ‘it’s green because it comes from a renewable plant’ approach.”
  
  

Before you rush out to buy that new green phone…

After reading last week’s post I felt like it was contributing to the notion of perceived obsolescence. Remember that perceived obsolescence is the idea that advertisers (or blog postings) make you feel like you need to replace a product to get the latest and greatest version, even if your current product is still working great. Clothing styles are a great example. Cell phones are perhaps my favorite example of perceived obsolescence. If you’re current phone is still in working condition, running out to buy a new one, even a “green” one will have a greater negative ecological impact than hanging on to your current phone. The E-waste associated with disposing of your old phone is a topic too large for this posting. On the production side of replacing your phone (even with a green phone) energy, greenhouse gas emissions, packaging, etc. have to be considered. My intention here is to point out some potentially greener options for you if your phone truly does become obsolete. Next week I’ll take a closer look at the bioplastics that are making many of our new products. Are they as green as we think?

A Green Cell Phone?

Image Source: treehugger.com

Sprint is now offering a phone that is 80% recyclable.

So What???

• “Electronic waste is a fast growing category of municipal solid waste?


• “Nearly 3 million tons of consumer electronic waste was generated in 2003 alone, according to the most recent U.S. EPA estimates?”


• "It's estimated that there are over 130 million cell phones retired in the U.S.? “

Source: http://www.greenerchoices.org/electronicsrecycling/el_ewaste.cfm

“The eco-friendly, socially conscious, always networking phone.” is now available from Sprint.
The Reclaim is made of 80% recyclable materials. 40% of the Reclaim’s casing consists of bio-plastic materials made from corn. It comes with a decent array of applications and features and sells for about $50 after rebates with the usual strings attached. $2 of that price is donated to the Nature Conservancy’s adopt an acre program. The site also mentions “one-click access to eco-friendly applications and information”, and 100% recyclable packaging. Check it out at http://green.sprint.com/reclaim.php