Photos: Sony Ericsson finds its GreenHeart
Thinking inside a smaller box
Mobile maker Sony Ericsson has announced two new phones that it claims are manufactured in a more sustainable manner than a typical mobile.
Pictured here is the C901 GreenHeart, a five megapixel Cyber-shot-branded feature phone which includes some recycled materials and comes with an e-manual pre-loaded, eliminating the need for a paper manual and decreasing the size of the box the phone is shipped in.
Photo credit: Natasha Lomas/silicon.com
The phone's casing is made from a minimum of 50 per cent recycled plastics and comes with a low-power charger.
The company plans to extend some of the environmentally focused manufacturing and design principles - such as e-manuals and reduced packaging - to its entire product portfolio by next year. Additional greener measures will be extended across the portfolio in 2011.
Photo credit: Natasha Lomas/silicon.com
Here is the box that will ship with the C901 GreenHeart - weighing in at 42g of packaging, rather than 550g box in use last year.
The phone still ships with a charger - albeit a low-power one - but a Sony Ericsson spokesman said, in future, once the GSMA's universal charger arrives, some of their partners may choose to sell phones without chargers altogether - allowing for an even smaller box.
Photo credit: Natasha Lomas/silicon.com
The box bears a GreenHeart logo to distinguish the phone from its lesser green C901 cousins.
Photo credit: Natasha Lomas/silicon.com
The second 'greener' phone being launched is this entry-level 3G device called Naite - which is likely to be aimed at emerging markets such as China, according to the spokesman. The device will also come with a low-power charger, use recycled material in its casing and feature a smaller box thanks to an e-manual.
Photo credit: Natasha Lomas/silicon.com
The company also showed off this design concept box for a mobile phone that ships without a charger.
Asked whether Sony Ericsson's steps towards sustainability go far enough, David Aeron-Thomas, head of metrics at not-for-profit sustainable development organisation Forum for the Future - which is working with the mobile maker - said no but added that the company is at least taking "practical steps" - more than can be said for other companies in the sector.
Photo credit: Natasha Lomas/silicon.com