The Bamboo Phone is the first degradable cell phone

While Apple is pushing for recyclable batteries in its laptops, Gert-Jan van Breugel has taken a very different approach to environmentally friendly gadgets.

His new product, The Bamboo Phone, is a biodegradable phone that once discarded, will turn from cell phone to bamboo plant in just a few months. Every Bamboo Phone comes fully equipped with a fresh supply of bamboo seeds making it ready to “grow” whenever you’re done with it.

The phone is made out of environmentally friendly plastic that will feed the bamboo plant once the phone is composted. Of course you do have to remove the battery, antenna and print board before tossing the phone, as those parts aren’t biodegradable quite yet.

So this phone might be a little bit extreme, and has some serious down sides like the hand crank charger, but it does remind us to think outside of the box when considering progressive technology.

Imagine a world where all your old consumer products can be used in your garden once they become obsolete. It may seem impossible, but this phone certainly proves that degradable plastic can be put to good use and should be embraced as one of the materials of the future.