A sunflower is a sunflower. A mobile phone is a mobile phone. But can you put the two together to do something for your local environment? As early as next year it may well be possible. When you have finished with your mobile phone, you will be able to bury* it in the garden and wait for it to flower.
A biodegradable* mobile phone was ,this month, introduced by scientists. It is hoped that the new kind of phone will encourage users to recycle*. Scientists have come up with a new material*over the last five years. It looks like any other plastic*and can be hard or soft, and able to change shape. But after some time, it can also break down without polluting the environment. British researchers used the new material to develop a phone cover with a sunflower seed. When this cover turns into waste, it forms nitrates*. These feed the seed and help the flower grow. "We've only put sunflower seeds into the cover so far. But we are trying to find out which flowers would be the best. Maybe we could put roses in next time." said one scientist.
As phones are developing so quickly, people are always throwing their mobiles away. This means producers have to find ways of recycling them. About 650 million mobile phones have been sold this year. Most of them will be thrown away in two years, leaving plastic*, heavy metal and other waste to the environment. A biodegradable cover can reduce the harm to nature, according to the scientists. "The seed sprouts*and the flower grows so you don't have to worry about the phone when you have finished using it," said Kerry Kirwan, the leader of the research team, which is based at the University of Warwick in Britain.
