Made from 40-percent corn-derived bio-plastic and 80-percent biodegradable material in general,
Samsung, along with service partner
Sprint, just announced the 'Reclaim,' touted as the world's first green phone (an iffy claim, considering that earlier this year Motorola came out with its
W233 Renew phone, made out of recycled plastic water bottles). The two corporations jointly debuted the
QWERTY-capable sliding phone this morning at Cooper Hewitt, where Sprint's CEO Dan Hesse promised that $2 of every Reclaim's sale will go to the Nature Conservancy's Adopt an Acre program.
The Reclaim, which is a fairly high-design gadget, aims to do everything a typical messaging phone can do, but with less environmental impact. According to Omar Kahn, senior vice president of Strategy and Product Management for Samsung Mobile, this entails 12 times less power than the Energy Star standard, direct access to "green content" (like guides and glossaries), and recycled, biodegradable packaging and product manuals. Of course, the device comes in hug-the-world colors Earth Green and Ocean Blue. (To us, Earth Green is immeasurably cooler, in a deep jade.) The kicker: the phone beeps when it's charged, reminding users to unplug it to save energy.
With the convenience that Internet-equipped phones give to Americans, it's important to remember that every
Blackberry and
iPhone is made from plastic, comes with an absurd amount of packaging and material, and is often left on the charging cradle, draining power endlessly. While this is an excellent initiative (Sprint needs to do this, as it admits it's currently #17 on the EPA's Green Power list.), the Reclaim is unfortunately a pretty simple cell. Retailing for a meager $50 (with a two-year Sprint contract, obviously), the price is a great step towards making eco-products available to everyone. Yet, the phone lacks
Wi-Fi, one-touch navigation is frustrating, and with just 2.0 megapixels, the camera is pretty scrappy (not to mention video-playback is grainy and unimpressive). What the Reclaim does do well is take all of the small hints and tips we've known about staying green (unplug your phone post-charge, recycle old batteries, avoid PVC and BFRs, etc.) and puts them in an attractive little device that looks part Greenpeace Rally, part Fifth Avenue.
When you market a cell phone to senior citizens by touting a "Live Nurse" option, you'd darn well better make sure that the 911 service works. We've gotten word from The Consumerist that 
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