Biodegradable Cell Phones Sprout Into Flowers

Neurowiz writes "Tired of your cell phone and lusting after the new model with all the geek-gadgets? Worried about the effect that throwing away your cell phones may have on the environment? Worry not! 'Researchers at the University of Warwick's Warwick Manufacturing Group, in conjunction with PVAXX Research & Development Ltd, have devised a novel way to recycle discarded mobile telephones - bury them and watch them transform into the flower of your choice.' What's next? Plant your PC/Mac and watch a house grow?"

Comments

It's *not* a biodegradible cell phone.

[Skyshadow]

It's not a biodegradible cell phone. It's a biodegradible cell phone case. As in the thin plastic shell that covers the guts of the phone. As in maybe 5% of the total bulk of the phone.

Don't get me wrong, it's better than nothing, but nobody who buys one of these disposible cell phones are should think they're making an environmentally sound purchase because it might sprout a pretty flower someday. There's a lot more to the phone than just the case, and a lot of it isn't anything you'd want to see buried in your backyard -- batteries, plastic circuit boards, etc. In practice, it seems more likely that this will actually *harm* the environment as morons bury the whole thing once their minutes are used up, the whole time thinking they're being a responsible friend of the earth. Even if you're smarter than the average bear and read the directions about only burying the case, it's still *far* better to get yourself an cell phone on contract and use it for a few years before trading up than it is to go through a few of these things a year.

Of course, given the profession that tends to be the biggest customer for disposable phones, if you're concerned about the environment I'd also suggest that you should encourage your customers to recycle those glass vials you're selling them their crack in.

Re:It's *not* a biodegradible cell phone.

[RangerRick98]

it's still *far* better to get yourself an cell phone on contract and use it for a few years before trading up than it is to go through a few of these things a year.

Agreed. And even better than burying the case and throwing the rest away would be to donate the old phone to a women's shelter or something similar, since they can be used to dial 911 even when no service is attached to it.

That's not all...

[Sensible Clod]

a novel way to recycle discarded mobile telephones - bury them and watch them transform into the flower of your choice

WRONG! The summary would lead one to believe you can do this with present cell phones, but this is barely in the prototype stage, much less actually in use for years. If just the article submitters would RTA. Think you could do that next time?

Holy Junk Math!

[ivan256]

Watts over time gives you watt hours, not more watts. Time is already included in the watt unit.

If you take 100 watts for 3 hours, you don't get 300 watts as this totally bogus article says.

I certainly hope your post was a joke.

What a great idea!!

[yetanothermike]

Now, instead of donating my old phones to one of the many charities that reprogram them and give them to those in need of ways to make emergency calls I can instead bury it in dirt! Where do I sign up?!?