What is green in devices?

CEBU, Philippines - The term “green device” keeps coming up – at least in the media. It came up again during the recent Mobile World Congress in February 2009. But, what does a green device actually mean? And more importantly, do we have those? 

When we asked Nokia people about what green devices should include, the features chosen ranged from energy efficient charging to natural power source and recyclable materials - in products as well as in packaging. Similarly, consumers rank highest up energy savings and extended device lifetime, as well as recyclability. But, there is so much more that can be done to make devices sustainable and Nokia has done a lot. We have included a variety of environmental features in our devices already but there is not one device which has been called green, and Nokia doesn’t even want to concentrate on creating just one-off green devices.

“If you think about the environmental impact we would make by selling just a one-off green device it wouldn’t be the greenest approach for a market leader that has sold its devices to over a billion people. Rather than focusing on creating a particular green device for a particular segment we want to include as many environmentally friendly features as possible in all our devices. Environmental sustainability is everyone’s responsibility, and choosing an environmentally improved device should likewise be possible for everyone – without compromising on the preferred feature set one wants from the device. That is green thinking in our case and also more beneficial for the environment” says Mitti Storckovius, Director in the Devices’ Environment team.

The latest example in this journey is the recently announced Nokia 5630 XpressMusic. It’s not only a great music device but it also includes some of our latest sustainable and energy saving features. The materials for the device and packaging have been selected with the environment in mind and it also includes environmental services like Eco zone, Green Explorer, and we:offset. What could be highlighted in this device is that it certainly pulls the plug on energy waste. It has an ambient light sensor that can read how much natural light is available and adapts the screen and key mat to that. It also comes with the AC-10 micro USB charger which is about to be five stars on Charger Energy Rating (i.e., most efficient charger) and naturally the phone includes the reminder to unplug the charger once the device is fully charged. In addition, its smaller packaging is 100 percent recyclable, the user guide is printed in black and white on recycled paper and includes a green page with information on how to use the device in an environmental way. The device will also have eco tips included in the tutorial. Many of these features will be rolled out across our product range.  

“The Nokia 5630 Xpress Music is indeed packed with all the latest sustainable and energy efficiency features and we are focusing on rolling our environmental innovations out across our product range to maximise the environmental benefit. By doing that we will be able to make the largest impact and reach also those people with our sustainable features who are not that aware or interested in environmental issues yet” says Mitti. The already launched Nokia E55, Nokia 6720 classic and Nokia 6710 Navigator also feature Eco zone, we:offset application, Power Save mode, Unplug charger reminder and come with our high efficiency chargers.

The fact is that up to 80 percent of any Nokia device can be recycled, most new devices include the unplug charger reminder, many of the potentially hazardous substances have been phased out voluntarily before required by law, and our new devices include services that help raise awareness about environmental issues. Our latest chargers (AC-8, AC-10) consume only one tenth of the energy compared to chargers commonly used today when in no load mode (a charger is unplugged from the phone but still left plugged into the power socket). The AC-8 is being shipped in volumes with many of our products already and will have huge impact on the energy saving with our volumes. Nokia also has an ambitious target to halve the no-load energy use of our average sold chargers from 2005 to 2010, and is well underway to reach this target.

So, who can say Nokia doesn’t have green devices? Nokia’s approach might be slightly different from that of our competitors. We don’t perhaps launch those individual “green devices” but we do work hard toward greening our whole portfolio – and that means greening more devices in larger volumes than anyone else can. We have both the opportunity and the responsibility to make a real impact. By making sustainable choices in everything we do, in all the devices that we make, we can succeed in this – again, with the power of we.