A Google search on ‘mobile’ and ‘environmentally friendly’ returns some interesting results. As expected there are mobile vendors using green’ to sell their physical devices at the top of the list. Deeper into the search we find some mobile handset suppliers have been experimenting – sometimes rather bizarrely – with environmentally friendly devices as shown at http://gadgets.infoniac.com, which include handsets made to use the power of the sun to recharge and even handsets made out of grass which will bio-degrade and literally have your phone fall to pieces. But! The real question is not really being answered. Can mobile really be considered environmentally friendly?
Mobiles are an interesting breed in the green space. They have processors built in which mimic desktop pc capabilities of 5-10 years ago. Colour screens, user interfaces and full time internet connections. They do not need a full time power source, and some devices can run for up to a week without recharging. Remote areas in Africa have even found new businesses popping up which are for recharging mobile devices only – this mainly in areas where infrastructure is poor - mainly power sources or power points. Yes that’s right, a small hut, with various chargers plugged in to charge the device. The business logic is sound. A customer pays the vendor, plugs in the phone and returns hours later to a charged device.
Are there other ways mobiles can be green?
Mobile forms and mobile surveys are used to process information into backend systems in real time. This is done over the mobile internet using 2g or 3g. As a business, this can mean that an account manager or sales person can place orders in the field with their phone rather than returning to the office to complete the same process on a pc. Mobile forms also increase accuracy over voice calls, as an audit trail exists based on time and user credentials of the submission along with the actual order information, additionally mobile forms increase accuracy as ,phonetically, over a voice call some numbers sound vary similar , for example 15 and 50 , 16 and 60 and so on, thus orders through mobile internet are quicker, and more accurate. If this system is implemented correctly it means less travel, less need for power usage, saved time, and less paperwork. Does this also mean that the travel offset and increased accuracy (less returns on overfilled orders) could be considered an environmentally friendly action?
At first glance this solution shows great results, Yes there are real life examples of this solution, although mostly the solution affects the bottom line of the business – showing greater profits for increased efficiency. Only time will tell if it is a solution which will offset carbon emissions and reduce travel and ‘cutting down trees’ enough to make a real impact.
Could there be some green potential in mobile surveys?
