As rugby fans gear up for the final weekend of the Six Nations, O2 Recycle has unveiled a smartphone made from pulped grass clippings from Twickenham Stadium.
The collaboration with Sean Miles, designer at DesignWorks, produced a handset made from a combination of recycled mobile phone parts and real grass from the London rugby ground. It was commissioned for O2’s ‘Recycle for Rugby’ initiative.
The device is fully functional, with tens of thousands of grass blades being freeze-dried, pulped and molded to be employed in the casing of the device.
O2’s initiative aims to encourage mobile phone users to recycle their old devices.
Bill Eyres, Head of Sustainability at O2 said: "By creating this phone we are demonstrating how two of O2’s passion points – rugby and O2 Recycle – can come together, as a force for good. O2 Recycle offers a simple, sustainable way to recycle unused gadgets and receive a cash payment in return whilst at the same time backing a great cause and recycling for rugby.
"We are calling on people across the country to recycle unwanted gadgets and help raise the £350,000 we have pledged to support the RFU’s Try for Change social responsibility programme, aimed at promoting rugby as a powerful tool for social change."
Sean Miles commented: "We wanted to give the ‘old and forgotten’ a new lease of life and create a thought provoking prototype which would make people stop and think about recycling in a new and different way."
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He added: "The phone itself is incredibly striking and those who use it can pick out every blade of grass and imagine the incredible rugby games which have been played over them."
