CES 2009: World's first carbon neutral mobile phone

Lots of exciting eco-gadgets have come out of this year’s CES and Motorola’s new carbon neutral phone the MOTO™ W233 Renew is no exception. This environmentally responsible designed phone or as I like to call it: green beauty, is the world’s first mobile phone created from recycled water bottle plastics and when the phone has reached the end of its life it is 100% recyclable, win win. Read on for more information.



The big claim of Motorola’s Renew is that it is “carbon neutral” which I am afraid can be taken only with a pinch of salt because there are a whole lot of caveats that change the accuracy of that statement. Having said that, through an alliance with Carbonfund.org, Motorola have off-set the emissions used to manufacture, distribute and operate the phone by investing in renewable energy sources and reforestation. This is further than many companies are willing to go so thumbs up to Motorola.
One of my pet hates it all the packaging which comes with virtually anything you buy, so I was pleased to see that Motorola have reduced the packaging they have used by 22% and the packaging which is left is made from 100% post-consumer recycled paper.
Motorola has gone in a completely different direction with the Renew and the mobile’s green features along with simple and ergonomic looks make it an affordable delight. But it is no high end phone so specs-wise there is not much to distinguish this phone from any others on the market, it boasts nine hours of talk time, CrystalTalk technology and messaging capabilities and that’s about it.
Although there is nothing outstandingly green about the Renew it has several points in its favour, here is hoping this sets the trend and other companies take it even further.

Videos on the Web

Nice review from CNet:


The video below is a strange one, the voice over is electronic. It sounds like it is a computer just reading a blog article but the content is interesting as brings up the question: is the Motorola Renew just "greenwash":




[Source: Press Release]