Science & Outdoors
The Motorola Renew offers environmentally conscious buyers an oppurtunity to own a phone made partially of recycled water bottles.
Tech Tidbit: Recycled plastic renews cell phones
The Pointer
kbose675@uwsp.edu
Imagine a cell phone with no bluetooth capabilities, no camera, no video player and no Wi-Fi. Most students couldn’t fathom the idea of a cell phone without these “essential” attributes. The thought of such a low-tech phone may take students back to the time when they received their first cell phone with merely a few games and an address book as features. What kind of company would market a phone with such limited capabilities? Motorola took that risk, but with a twist.
This basic phone is the first cell phone to have it’s casing be made entirely of recycled water bottles. The Renew comes packaged in a post-consumer recycled cardboard box and offers nine hours of talk time before needing a charge. Compared to most phones, Renew’s nine hours of talk time is quite a bit longer than the average cell and was designed to reduce the amount of time needed to charge the phone, saving energy.
Motorola left no path uncrossed when developing the cell. They even included a pre-paid envelope so buyers can return their old phone for recycling. However, the reviews are still out on whether the Renew is a quality purchase. Some reviewers claim the phone has slow Internet browsing capabilities and “old style” graphics, but commend Renew for its up-to-date MP3 aptitude and clear, loud call quality.
Being the first carbon-free phone on the market, it is certainly one of a kind and makes an environmentally friendly statement that other cell phone companies will surely emulate.
