One of the most exciting briefings I had at the Mobile Word Congress was with Johanna Jokinen. Johanna heads up Nokia's environmental projects. She showed me the Nokia 3110 "Evolve". 50% bioplastic, this phone is perhaps Nokia's most visible environmental project.
So what is bioplastic as opposed to ordinary plastic? All plastics are made from oil. Most plastics we use today use petroleum as the oil source, whereas bioplastics are made from vegetable oil sources. And the impact? Well, not only are bioplastics made from renewable resources, they also produce 15% less carbon dioxide in manufacturing, and are 15% more energy efficient to produce.
In addition, the 3110 comes with a new generation of charger which is capable of detecting when the battery is fully charged. Most of us leave chargers plugged into devices even when they're fully charged, which has a dramatic impact on energy consumption. Circuits in the 3110's charger can reduce its energy consumption to a trickle at that point — 94% below the Energystar specification.
And finally, the 3110 is delivered in a small box, made from 60% recycled materials. Half of Nokia's products are now delivered in these boxes, resulting in a savings of $100 million per year to the company. It's not just good for the environment, it's also good for the bottom line!
Johanna also informed me that many of Nokia's phones are actually designed to be recycled, including the 3110. They meet or exceed the RoHS specification which dictates how much toxic material can be deposited in a landfill. In addition, they're designed to be easily stripped down so that reusable components can be salvaged. Plus, Nokia has also established recycling centres through the world where you can deliver old phones to be disposed of in an ethical and environmental fashion, or recycled.
If you want to find the location of a Nokia recycle station near you, or simply find out more information of Nokia's programs, visit http://nokia.com/environment.
Nokia deserves plaudits for these initiatives. In my opinion, it's just one more reason to shop Nokia.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for BlackBerry maker Research in Motion. This is his personal blog, with his personal viewpoints. Prior to this Alec was the CEO and co-founder of Calliflower — the easiest way to hold a meeting, online, on a conference call, or on the go. A double-decade veteran of product management and marketing, he spent nine years at Microsoft where he helped launch Windows 95, the first two versions of Internet Explorer, the Universal Plug and Play initiative, the push into home markets, opt-in email marketing and what might well go down in history as the very first direct email list ever.
