You and your cellphones

It is estimated that during the last 20 years 1.2 billion cell phones have ben sold worldwide! I have contributed to that, I've already had 4 cell phones in my life. 3 of them are in a draw at my parents house and in that same draw I have 3 battery chargers that are completely useless...

Cell phones contain several heavy metals such as lead, nickel, chromium and copper. Nowdays phones can be recycled; the battery is usually removed since they have their own recycling path. More recent models of cell phones consists of about 25% metals (copper, steel and aluminium), 20-50% plastic and the rest glass, ceramics and epoxy. Unfortunately we are not able to recycle 100% of the cell phone, it is then usually crushed and smelted.

Watch this short american movie to get a quick idea of what happens to your phone once you throw it away. Did you know that there is enough gold in 200 phones to make one golden ring?

How many cell phones have you had?

Greenpeace electronics

Next time you need to buy a cell phone or any other electronics do check Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics - they rank the top manufacturers of cell phones, computers and other electronics after their policies on toxics, recycling and climate change. For the moment Lenovo and Nintendo should be avoided!!

Disgusting!!

Can food that doesn't decompose really be food?! Check out this little experiment - what does McDonald's food look like after some months? A Big Mac still looks fine after 3 weeks - but what about the fries... well look for yourself! I am not sure I will ever eat there again!

Sustainable Clubbing

Did you know that the clubbing industry is one of the most unsustainable industries? Clubs are for the moment not really thinking of their environmental impacts, they consume massive amounts of energy, water and glass.

Check out how you can generate energy by just dancing! Did you know that in Holland 1,5 million people go to clubs every week - how much energy could they create?

EcoNews

One of the Greek tv-channels has taken an initiative I think every country should follow: EcoNews! Everyday after the national news you get for about 10 minutes national and international updates on environmental news. This clip is for example about the EuroVelo project where 50 000 km of bike roads all around Europe make it possible to bike from Lisbon to Moscow, Israel uses new technology to save water and Bolivia has discovered a new source of energy and can become much less dependent from petroleum.

Do you have EcoNews in your country?