Nokia Wood Cellphone from Sustainably Harvested Wood? Not
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 10.10.08
Earthfirst titles a post " Nokia Cell Phone Made of Sustainably Harvested Wood", thinks it a lovely idea and quotes Cellphone Beat, which writes in Nokia goes green with wooden body phone " This Nokia eco-friendly concept flaunts a wooden body made from sustainable timber. The design features an 8-megapixel camera, bluetooth, speaker and a Symbian S60 Operating System."
Cellphone Beat continues: "Mobile phones with metallic bodies, which in the designer mode are even seen studded with diamonds and crystals, will have an environment-friendly competitor, if the eco-friendly wooden Nokia concept is realized sometime in the distant future. The natural soulful look of the phone, fitted with advanced technical features, will make it the most sought after device by environmentally-conscious, cell phone users, looking for a phone that does not contaminate the environment with its toxic elements." and links back to Concept Phones, which writes in Nokia 8 Megapixel Cameraphone Concept, Designed by Nokia’s Eco-Team: Yes, the device is branded Nokia, but the details are extremely scarce… The handset looks more like a camera than a phone to me, but it’s equally hot. Turns out that it features Bluetooth, Symbian S60, a speaker and tons of eco-friendliness. This concept phone is made of wood from sustainable forests, so Mother Nature won’t suffer as you take your pics with the aid of the handset."
Concept Phones links back to its source on Flickr which is titled "Nokia eight mega pixel phone (concept phone by Nokia's eco-team)" and the only copy is "The first Nokia eight mega pixel phone? I guess we'll have to wait some time for that... Only a concept made of wood from sustainable forests at this stage but fun anyway. "
hmm, that pattern of dimples looks awfully familiar. could Singgih Kartono be in a joint venture with Nokia, carving sustainable phones in Malaysia?
So from one line of commentary under two Flickr photos by a guy from Birmingham who appears to have visited Helsinki we end up with a hundred websites blooming with Nokia's new green eco-phone with tons of eco-friendliness from sustainably harvested wood. A cautionary tale of broken cellphone.
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Ha! Good internet detective work!
I'm confused.
Is it made from sustainably harvested wood or "not"?
Is it made by Nokia or "not"?
Is it a cellphone or "not"?
I have no idea what that "not" in the headline is referring to.
Hi i am a trained designer. I would even put myself in the sub category of sustainable design critic.
The problem with this phone is first and foremost when considering the entire lca ( life cycle analyse) of a product the housing ( ie it casing, in this the sustainable bamboo) is the least offensive contributor .
With electronics the inner electronics are the cause for the biggest environmental damage. The phone is a text book example of green washing. Nokia used to stand for quality phones , I had a Nokia for 8 years until the battery worn out.
There's something ironic about a website calle "treehugger" promoting things made from wood... cut down trees... it's almost like if a website called childrensrights ran an article promoting NAMBLA (yuck). Okay, so it's not nearly that extreme. I get it, wood's better for the environment than plastic, but it's still kind of funny.
dear "trained designer" and everybody else -- please look *thoroughly* to pictures, especially to the right side of "LCD panel"... may be it will make you think second time and withdraw what you'd said before ;) Nokia *is* committed on long run for eco-/green impact but it is not *that* stupid to put itself into such a PR disaster...