
I think the environmental wave has been building for some time," says Olson, "and now, consumers believe it's real, it's important, and they're ready to start buying products that align with these values. But they're also smart: If you take a marginal product and stick a green label on it, it's not going to fool anyone. If, however, you have a really great product and it happens to be green, that sells. The key is to offer people something thoughtful and well-executed."
A lot of thought definitely went into the Renew, but it might have some stiff competition in Samsung's latest innovation, Blue Earth, a solar-powered touchscreen phone (unfortunately available only in the U. K.), which can generate enough electricity to make a call at any time using a mini-sheet of solar panels on the back. It's constructed from a plastic called PCM, also made from recycled water bottles.
Screen brightness, backlight duration and Bluetooth can all be adjusted in a setting called "eco mode," and there's even something called an "eco walk" function that includes a built-in pedometer so users can calculate how much CO2 they've saved by not driving the car to work. Whether or not the phone will also feature built-in persuasive arguments to tackle such a dilemma each morning in the middle of winter, however, remains to be seen.
Previously, Samsung had released another green phone, simply called Eco, made from bioplastics, which are derived from corn and other plant materials instead of petroleum-based polycarbonates. Other than this and a water-based finishing coat, though, they basically just labelled it sustainable and called it a day.
Meanwhile, Nokia followed a similarly corny path with the Evolve, which features "bio-covers" made from over 50% renewable material. The main difference between the technology of this phone and the Renew or Blue Earth is that there are built-in alerts reminding users to unplug their chargers, and the chargers themselves are 94% more efficient.