The stadium is the largest dedicated rugby arena in the world, and the second largest stadium in Britain, behind Wembley. It’s home to the England Rugby Team, and this fully-functional phone was commissioned to kick-off the launch of ‘Recycle for Rugby’ which is the new social responsibility campaign of the Rugby Football Union (RFU).
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As one might expect, a cell phone made from grass is quite an eye-catching thing. The phone took over 240 hours to build, and is made from tens of thousands of blades of grass collected from the rugby stadium. The grass components make up the phone’s casing, and locally-sourced wood was used for the buttons. In order to get the “fresh cut grass” look, the grass was freeze-dried within two hours of being cut from the stadium, and then the clippings were pulped, molded into the casing, and coated in an eco-friendly resin.
The intent behind this commissioned prototype is to push forward the notion that old technology can inform the future, and indeed be directly recycled into something new and original. RFU’s Recycle for Rugby campaign revolves around inspiring people to recycle more of the objects they use in their daily lives, especially old electronic devices. Whether this campaign will have people clamoring for other devices made from grass clippings remains to be seen, but this unique project does get one thinking about new ways to reuse old materials.
Images via Mike Buck and O2 Recycle.
