Green is in demand
Hungarians have 5 mobile phone accessories per capita on average[1]. One of the most common accessories are mobile phone cases, revealed a recent survey by Telenor supplier Cellect Hungary. When buying an accessory, customers consider price and usability in the first place, followed by environmental friendliness. Nearly every respondent uses something to protect their mobile phone from damage which is why this last consideration is of key importance. Unlike plastic items, fully biodegradable accessories don’t pose an environmental hazard.
Raising awareness to protect birds
The Hungarian Ornithological and Nature Conservation Society (MME) launched its “Bird of the Year” program in 1979 to present and raise awareness of vulnerable species and groups of birds. Based on a public voting, the European stonechat (Saxicola rubicola) was selected as the Bird of the Year 2021. The 100% biodegradable plant-based compostable mobile phone cases prepared in the joint campaign feature this bird.
“The size of Hungary’s European stonechat population has declined by 54% over the past twenty years. Reasons include industrial agriculture transforming their natural habitat and the disappearance of weedy, bushy areas due to agricultural production. Our awareness campaign wants to call people’s attention to the fact that sustainable agriculture should not only aim to satisfy consumer needs but also provide a safe habitat for plants and animals. We hope that our partnership will take this message to even more people”, said Zoltán Orbán, Spokesman of MME.
Providing practical items, the partnership aims to address a broader audience less familiar with natural conservation issues and encourage more environmentally conscious behaviour among the general public. Based on Cellect’s survey, Hungarians tend to use a mobile phone case for 2 years on average after which these items end up in the landfill. A fully plastic case poses an environmental hazard for more than 200 years. A fully compostable mobile phone case, however, is decomposed in nature within 6 to 24 months. The ‘Bird of the Year’ collection available exclusively from Telenor is based on Cellect’s 100% environmentally friendly, biodegradable and compostable mobile phone cases protecting the environment.
The limited-series cases have been designed by graphic and product designer Panni Czikkely. “Environmental consciousness, the protection of flora, fauna and our planet are of key importance to me both in my private life and in my work. This campaign was an exciting challenge for me because I had to get a feel of how to visualize the personality and characteristics of the Bird of the Year. I’m happy that the users of these environmentally friendly mobile phone cases can now see this special bird through my eyes,” said Panni Czikkely.
The mobile phone cases featuring the Bird of the Year suitable for Apple and Samsung handsets are available in black, green and coral from 10 May exclusively in Telenor’s webshop. After every piece of mobile accessory sold, HUF 500 is contributed to MME’s monitoring program and habitat protection efforts. To find more environmentally friendly GoGreen cases in Telenor’s offering visit https://bit.ly/kornyezetbarat-telenor.
“How the Bird of the Year flew on a mobile phone case” – Please click here for Panni Czikkely’s video about the creation process.
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[1] A survey conducted under the partnership of Cellect Hungary and MediaMarkt on a 1,000-strong sample in December 2020 in Hungary.