Bringing back the 90's phone

Everyone has an understanding as to how to recycle. You put your plastics in bins and they get made into cosy fleeces and garden chairs. Your paper gets put in that bin and goes off to become new paper or maybe even Kranthout, the Dutch paper-wood. Your old 90’s phone goes into that bin and gets a make-over into a cool new phone. Wait, what?

French company Lëkki have decided to go back to basics and refurbish those old 90’s mobiles back to working order. Perfect for those people who just want a phone to be a phone, the ‘new’ Motorola StarTAC’s are brightly coloured and complete with a retro, retractable antenna and not an app in sight. You can also make your own phone by choosing the colours you'd like. 

But this isn’t just about another retro product being bought back to make money. Nor is it a (100%) anti-app and lets-go-back-to-the-good-old-days movement. This phone has a big idea behind it. A big green idea. It's all about sustainable product development. The lifespan of a mobile is around 18 months but it takes around 6-7 years to balance out the carbon emissions produced through making one. So to extend the lifespan of the handset, Lëkki are recycling and revamping these vintage phones, showing us that brand spanking new doesn’t mean better, especially when it comes to the environment. Being green has never been so easy to do and still stay looking cool.

If you’re interested in recycling old but not useless objects then check out Saved, Green Thing’s way of prolonging the life of neglected t-shirts and making the unfashionable fashionable again.

(Spotted on For Love Not Money)

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