Samsung comes clean...with green cell phones

Samsung W510

(Credit: Samsung)

Samsung showed its greener side last week when it unveiled two environmentally friendly cell phones at the World IT Show in Seoul, Korea. The Samsung W510 is the company's first mobile to be made of "bio-plastic," which is produced with natural material extracted from corn. In addition, the W510 uses a water-soluble coating and no heavy metals, such as lead, mercury, and cadmium, were used in the production of the cell phone.

The second handset, the Samsung F268, is made from the same material but it, as well as its accessories, also has the benefit of not containing any BFRs (brominated flame retardants) or PVC. The F268 is compliant with the Energy Star requirements (energy-efficiency guidelines set by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy) and comes equipped with an alarm to alert you when the battery is full and encourages you to unplug the charger afterwards.

While the W510 will ship in Korea and the F268 in China come June, it's not clear whether both or either of the cell phones will be sold in the United States. The good news is that Samsung is making a global effort to lessen its impact on the environment by launching more environmentally-conscious products with more renewable material and less energy consumption and setting up a cell phone recycling program. Samsung isn't alone in this crusade, as Nokia has been very active in this field.