Mobile friendly or mobile trendy...

Samsung S7550 Blue Earth

I must confess that for most of my life I have been a gadget girl and a mobile phone was top of the list for some years. It was my treat to myself and every 12 months when my phone was due an upgrade, off I went to the phone company I was contracted to and upgraded to something swanky with extras that could bring me tea in bed, clean the house and let me have conference calls, all at once whether I needed those extras or not. I paid quite a price for this unnecessary luxury of extras when I could have got something much cheaper which did everything I needed. "How did we manage without mobile phones" people always say. Lets be honest, we managed perfectly well until the late 90's when, as I recall, they seemed to shoot up everywhere. Still, I am one of those people and I really do think that mobile phones or cell phones (depending where you are) are quite important and productive. We see "the latest model" every year and we go through them so fast even though, 9 times out of 10, they are still functioning perfectly when we buy the next model. What a waste you might say? What a waste indeed!




 Well I usually pass on my phones to someone who wants them and I don't bin them, not that that is really the answer though but at least it's being used. For the last few years I have tried to be less wasteful and a lot more sensible. (Jack and Jill will take all old mobiles in Ireland in any condition so please make sure you recycle them). But I can see that my phone is starting to veer toward retirement and the battery life slowing down so with that in mind I have been window shopping and was delighted to find my phone company of choice selling the Samsung S7550 otherwise known as the Blue Earth as shown above. It has a solar panel at the back to help charge it although you do also need to plug it in for faster charging, a built in pedometer called the Eco walk to track steps (which is a nice incentive to get you out and about) and and Eco mode to set the phone to save as much energy as possible.

It is also made from recycled bottles and the packaging is recycled too. The manual I believe is not enclosed but can be found online. Of course it does all manor of things that other phones do and probably makes the dinner as well but at least someone is thinking of the environment. So after seeing this little number I looked for other brands and found one or two but nothing more really and the others I believe are only in America or not as Eco friendly as they seem. I thought I would like to see this phone for myself so headed to the shops.
I was really disappointed to find that none of the shops had this phone or any Eco Phone in stock so I inquired why. Well at almost €300 for the Blue Earth, I understood instantly. "How Much!" People were not buying them and so they took them off the shelves and sent them back. This is no incentive for consumers who can buy a good phone for €50-€100 thank you very much. I can buy this online line for €169.00 at what is called a bargain! Well to be fair I know of people who have happily forked out €300 per phone but I wouldn't be one of them. Would I reach for €169.....I'm not entirely sure. If I won the lottery tomorrow than yes I would. I have read various reviews and most are very good with the expected one or two disappointed consumers. I could get it for free if I do a 12 month contract deal but I don't think that will save me money in the end.
I suppose I am disappointed that more companies aren't pushing Eco friendly phones. You know, more competition and all that and I think the government might push for them too. Everyone I know has a mobile phone but it seems that trend is winning over as it does most of the time and with economic difficulties still hanging around I cant blame people for not reaching into their pockets to do what is perhaps best for the environment if they'll need a second mortgage. I think it is better to leave you with a very good you tube link and you can decide for yourselves.

Click Here if you would like to learn about the Blue Earth phone.


Click Here to learn about Jack and Jill and recycling phones.


Love to know what you think or if you know of another Eco phone, so feel free to leave a comment