Mobile phones for the environment

by Eleonora Anello

Born for responding to the need of communicating in mobility, nowadays the mobile phones can do so many things that it’s reductive to call them just phones.

Browsing through the several apps, easy-to-use tools of advanced functions, it’s not difficult to find something “green”. By using our phone it’s possible to care about the environment, in many different ways. Regarding the consumer goods, we signal the app Goodguide.

Looking at the users’ comments, it seems to be one of the best eco-friendly apps. Once it’s downloaded, it can be launched every time we are about to buy a product. By putting the objective over the barcode of the product it’s possible to verify what we are buying on the basis of parameters such as the respect of the environment, the health and the social responsibility of the manufacturer. At present the database includes 120.000 products, a number constantly rising, thanks to the users’ reports.

The app, which works also on the web, helps the aware consumers and, at the same time, pushes the companies towards a better transparency and a certain kind of conduct. Goodguide isn’t intended to influence the decisions of the consumers, but instead to allow him to make a more aware decision. Its use is even easier for the online shopping, thanks to the new toolbar, supported by Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome.

This ambitious project was born on the quiet in 2007, when Professor Dara O’Rouke, from the University of California, Berkeley, wondered about the goodness of the sun protection cream he was putting on his daughter. After an investigation, he found out that just that cream contained a toxic ingredient.

Useful and enjoyable, Goodguide allows to create personalized lists of favourite products and to share them. It also suggests products to buy instead of the ones that total a low score, by making a sort of ranking of the “fairest” products.

We have tested the app on the products bought by a family composed of four individuals, two adults and two children. Only one product resulted to be present in the database. It was a face cream by a famous French branch, sold in the pharmacies. It totalled a very high score. It’s not clear why the barcode of the Coke couldn’t be read by the system. The limitations of the app thus appear clear: it includes only goods commercialized in the States and it’s not supported enough by the users’ feedbacks. In this respect we believe that, in times when sharing the information can make the difference, limiting the contribution of the people may be a big handicap. This is particularly relevant for projects that are present on platforms encouraging the interaction, such as Twitter, or Facebook, where Goodguide is present with more than 10.000 fans.

“At present and for the next future, we are not planning to expand the app to the European market. We are focusing on the States – answered to us Mia Gralla, marketing manager of Goodguide - As for the choice of the products, we opened to users and companies, allowing them to suggest which products evaluate and include in our program, in the following address: http://www.goodguide.com/product_suggestions/leaders##popular”.

We can deduce from this that being present on the web, and particularly on the Applestore, is and extraordinary promotional tool. It makes of a useful guide an object of desire, at least for who can’t fully make use of it.

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Spazio Etico presents his project: Voce del verbo “RI-CELLULARE”

by Valeria Rocca

Have you ever heard about the “Witness of the snail”? The Austrian thinker Ivan Illich said «The snail teaches us the way to think of a happy and friendly “de-growth society”. Building the delicate architecture of its shell with larger and larger coils, the snail has to stop and begin to create diminishing convolutions to avoid that a too large one, rather than contributing to its wellbeing, become a serious overweight». The metaphor is easy to understand: the man must pursue his welfare making choices in respect of the environment and the world, exactly like the snail, without excessing.

Spazio Etico, an association working in many different fields in Lazio, supports this philosophy. According to Spazio Etico, if our everyday decisions can positively affect the world around us, why not to commit ourselves to avoid waste? Among their many activities, the project “Voce del verbo Ri-Cellulare” deserves special attention.

Recent studies say the cell is the most popular gadget in the world and the most frequently replaced. Do the people recycle their old mobile phones? Only the 3% of the word population. Recycling mobile phones is instead very important because it enables to reduce greenhouse gas emissions resulting from landfill disposal of mobile phones and their batteries, to correctly dispose toxic materials contained in the cellphones (lead, cadmium, lithium), to prevent health problems, and to recover valuable metals. For more information we asked Mauro Speranza (project manager) some questions.

When was the idea of the project “Ri-cellulare” born and what are the main reasons that prompted you to promote it?
«The project "Voce del verbo Ri-cellulare”, was ideated in late 2009 as part of SPAZIO ETICO. On one hand we had the willingness to do something for helping the world we live in while on the other hand we realized that the increasing quantity of mobile phones does not correspond to an easy disposal system. In fact, very few people go to depots to dispose phones. So? Highly polluting items crowd the landfills or, at best, lie in drawers full of unused equipment».

Through which means was the project promoted?
«We planned a specific communication campaign using different channels, both classic and modern. First, we use the internet: the association’s website hosts a dedicated section and in the same time we use social networks. Furthermore, we don’t forget traditional channels such as social and cultural events. Information meetings and workshops were carried out in order to spread the activities and raise public awareness about the environmental impact of mobile phones, especially if they are not disposed by law. Collaborating with other associations which share the same values is very important for spreading knowledge of our activities. In addition to the associations, we are trying to involve the public bodies of the Lazio Region and of the Province of Rome (which sponsored the project) and the Municipality of Rome. An information campaign is also about to start in many schools».

Which objectives do you want to achieve with this project?
«We want to collect a growing number of used mobile phones in order to spread an environment-friendly culture, intended as a set of daily activities anyone can achieve in his daily routine. Furthermore, the association is trying to spread the culture of the “de-growth” and of the waste fighting, and this project pursues this aim».

Are you currently satisfied of the achieved results?
«The satisfaction is twofold: on one hand first results are encouraging in terms of number of collected phones (more than 2000), but above all we are realizing how much people can do if properly informed about the consequences of their actions».

Are you planning to export your project to other Italian regions?
«Exporting the project closely follows the interest it’s having across Italy. It's common to be contacted by other associations and partnerships are starting with some realities, especially in the Calabria region. Indeed, we are willing to support anyone who proves helpful in this regard».

We accept and spread with pleasure the invitation of Spazio Etico. All necessary information are available on the website.

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