Traveling by bike is one of the healthiest ways to get around a campus. Many universities that pride themselves on being a green campus promote the use of bikes. Not only do they help decrease emissions of cars or buses, but they help with the personal health of the rider. Nokia has come up with another incentive to bike around campus. While biking, charge your phone!
Nokia has turned to the eco-friendly campus market and has created a cell phone charger that powers up from pedaling a bike. The faster you ride, the more juice flows to your phone. The chargers can be attached to any bicycle and only work with Nokia phones that use a 2mm power jack. The charger connects to the middle part of the handlebars of any bike, and takes the energy and green electricity of the front wheel to the charger.
The $18 wonder is not the first of its kind, but it is definitely the cheapest, which makes it the most accessible to college students trying to live an eco-friendly lifestyle. Although the charger is currently being marketed to developing countries with limited access to electricity, the advantages of the phone in bike-friendly countries of Europe and green campuses in the US hold real potential.
“We are targeting the initial rollout in the developing markets, but we do, of course, see the potential outside of these countries,” said Nokia spokesman Leo McKay.
The installation process of the charger is simple:
- Attach one bracket (provided with the kit) to the middle area of the handlebars
- Attach the cell phone holder and charger to the bracket
- Use the other bracket to secure the small electric generator to the bikes fork
- Place your phone in the holder and bike away
Nokia, the world’s leader in cell phone production, said this new product will provide “free and environmentally friendly electricity for mobile phones” and will likely be welcomed in areas of the world where bicycles are a transportation staple. Although the US is not one of those known areas, students in green campuses around the country would benefit from this eco-friendly development.
