How to buy a green phone

More and more people are interested in buying mobile phones that have green features. For example, a Nokia study conducted in 2011 reveals that South Africa consumers value the following three attributes in phones: phones that are energy efficient; phones that are made with environmentally friendly materials; and phones that can be fully recycled.

A lot of producers claim to manufacture green mobile phones: but how to separate the greenwash from the green facts? How can you make informed decisions about the eco credentials of your phone?

• Nokia’s handsets tell it like it is. They have provided Eco profiles for their handsets since 2001. Eco profiles give information about the environmental impact of the product, covering its materials, energy efficiency, packaging and recycling. For example, if you look at the eco profile of the Nokia 700, you will find out that the packaging is 100% recyclable, and that the phone comes with a energy efficient AC-15 charger. You will find a detailed breakdown of the materials used in the phone. If you wonder about the environmental impact of the phone, you will learn that 9kg of CO2 were generated to produce the phone (The greenhouse gas emissions figures are based on a Life Cycle Assessment in accordance with the ISO 14040 and ISO 14044. These calculations take into account the raw materials acquisition, component manufacturing, Nokia’s own factory processes, inbound & outbound logistics, usage (3 years) and recycling of the mobile device.) To see the eco profile of your Nokia phone, go to: http://www.nokia.com/global/about-nokia/people-and-planet/sustainable-devices/eco-profiles/

 

• There are many sources of information that help you choose a green phone. The Good Guide (www.goodguide.com) provides authoritative information about the health, environmental and social performance of products and companies. It helps consumers find better products that are healthy, green and socially responsible. Of the 30 top rated mobile phones (i.e. rated as the most environmentally friendly), 24 are Nokia phones.

It’s easy to be green

• Be energy efficient with your mobile: All Nokia devices remind users to unplug their chargers when no longer needed. If the over 1 billion people who own Nokia devices did this, it would save enough energy to power 100,000 average-sized European homes.
• Use navigation on your mobile: A Nokia study shows that with regular use of mobile navigation, people actually drive shorter distances and spend less time driving. Fuel efficiency increased by 12 % and about 375 liters of fuel was saved equaling close to 1 ton of CO2 emissions per year. People using navigation also drove nearly 2,500 kilometers less, saving 1.19 million tires in Germany alone. You don’t need a separate navigation device, just use a Nokia smartphone with free Nokia Maps and Navigation installed.
• Use your mobile to avoid unnecessary travel: If only 10% of the 1.3 billion people who own Nokia devices used their mobile device to teleconference instead of travelling there by plane just once each year, we would avoid around 79 million tons of CO2 emissions. This is roughly equal to the average yearly emissions of 18 million people.
• Have it all in one device: If just 10% of the 1.3 billion people who own Nokia devices used their mobile instead of buying a separate music player, camera, video camera, laptop computer, and car navigator, we would avoid around 25 million tons of CO2 emissions during a year.

 

Make a difference with green apps and services

Nokia is continually expanding its offering of services and applications that change things for the better for individuals, communities and the planet we share. The Green channel in Nokia Store (https://store.ovi.com/channel/1883) offers dozens of environmentally geared applications, such as:

• Climate Mission 3D - Play ecologically themed games while discovering how to reduce your own ecological footprint. There are three different games each containing 20 levels. Heaps of fun and lots to learn – all in 3D.
• WWF Eco Guru – Calculate your footprint by measuring the environmental effects of your lifestyle. Global easy-to-use ecological footprint calculator for mobile use by WWF, powered by Nokia.
• GreenPhone - Enables you to minimize the energy consumption of your mobile phone. Install greenphone on your device and it will auto manage the features/applications on your device. The application monitors your behavior and optimizes the battery as per your usage pattern. The application optimizes the backlight, wireless LAN, GPRS and Bluetooth and displays the extension of time.
• Add a stunning WWF wallpaper to your phone.