That old phone you’ve been feeling too guilty to exchange for a new one may just offer a lifeline to Africa’s rainforests and endangered species. Electronic waste is a booming issue, but so is illegal logging in rainforests and poaching of endangered species of creatures.
Rainforests play house to more than half of the Earth’s species of plants as well as animals and are responsible for about 28% of the world’s oxygen turnover. So wouldn’t it be great if that old handset you’re tossing away can be put to use for the good of the planet? Rainforest Connection (RFCx) is an organization intent on saving trees and wildlife by utilizing e-waste.
RFCx builds listening devices out of recycled cell phones and keeps them powered via solar panels. The end products look giant black flowers mounted on tree trunks or other strategic areas. These installations are deemed to be highly capable of detecting and pinpointing signs of environmental destruction including chainsaws, distress calls made by animals and gunshots.
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Currently, satellites are used to discover rainforest destruction and this system offers the relevant details days or weeks too late. RFCx’s contraption is more of a real-time logging or poaching detection option. Such data can be streamed live to anyone around the globe to render it a more practical way of going about saving Mother Earth.
Think you’d like to contribute to the cause of protecting forests and endangered animals? Here’s the RFCx page on Kickstarter inviting you to do your bit for the planet.