Christmas Tree made of cell phones rings in the holiday season

By Alan Friedman

Published: Dec 24, 2011, 3:33 PM

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Christmas Tree made of cell phones rings in the holiday season

The Xmas Tree made up of used handsets - Christmas Tree made of cell phones rings in the holiday season

A recent Verizon commercial shows a Christmas tree made up of touchscreen phones that light up all at once. A real life Christmas Tree made up of 2,500 unusable handsets is now on display in Vietnam in front of Westcom Electronics in the southern city of My Tho. The tree took a pair of workers ten days to complete. Store manager Nguyen Trai says that the tree was put up in order to focus attention on hazardous waste and promote environmental responsibility.

According to Trai, 700 to 800 people come by daily to see the tree and take pictures with it. Cell Phones are everywhere in Vietnam where 60% of the population is under 30 years old and the handsets are seen as a sign of wealth in a country suffering from inflation.

There is a Grinch in the story and that is Nguyen Thanh Yen of Vietnam's Environment Administration who says he welcomes the attempt to raise awareness about hazardous waste, but says that Westcom Electronics violated a Vietnamese law that calls for government approval to use hazardous waste for new purposes. Even, it seems, if the hazardous waste is designed to help everyone celebrate the season in good cheer.

source: AP via IntoMobile

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Alan, an ardent smartphone enthusiast and a veteran writer at PhoneArena since 2009, has witnessed and chronicled the transformative years of mobile technology. Owning iconic phones from the original iPhone to the iPhone 15 Pro Max, he has seen smartphones evolve into a global phenomenon. Beyond smartphones, Alan has covered the emergence of tablets, smartwatches, and smart speakers.

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Christmas Tree made of cell phones rings in the holiday season

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