Got an old mobile left over? Play the Funky Phone Challenge!
Have you got an old mobile phone lying around? If so, you can hand it in at Funky Phone in Lipsius. The phone will be recycled and you get to play an old-fashioned arcade game on the Funky Phone games computer built from discarded electronics. Vice-Rector Hester Bijl kicked off the Funky Phone Challenge on 15 January.
There are a lot of raw materials in mobile phones and in other electronic equipment that can be recycled. Even so, they often get thrown out with the rubbish: it's called e-waste. During the week of the Circular Economy Leiden University Green Office (LUGO) is focusing attention on e-waste by organising the Funky Phone Challenge. LUGO is a group of students and staff who work on sustainability within the University.
Games computer made from discarded electronics
Vice-Rector Hester Bijl kicked off the Funky Phone Challenge by throwing her old mobile into the Funky Phone games computer. It is made from discarded electronics: a old computer and screen and even an old washing machine! Throwing a phone in activates the games computer and you get to play different games. Bijl got a high score with her first attempt, and she challenges all our student and staff to hand in their old mobiles and beat her score.
Sustainable students
‘Sustainability is a key theme within Leiden University,' Bijl commented, after playing her first game. 'And students are an important factor in making our university more sustainable: we, the Executive Board, are often outdone by our students, with all their bright ideas and innovative suggestions. This Funky Phone Challenge is just one example, and we are very happy to support their enthusiasm. It makes people very aware of the importance of recycling and it's also a great game at the same time. I hope the computer will fill up with old phones in no time.'
Competing against other universities
Everyone is welcome to hand in their mobile phones from 15 January to 8 February and play a game on the Funky Phone games computer in the central hall of the Lipsius Building. You can play solo or against friends: for every mobile you donate, you get three three chances to play. But the competition is broader than that: there are Funky Phone games computers at other higher education institutions as well. You can go to the website of the organiser E-Waste Arcades and see where the most mobiles have been collected. As you might expect, Aleksandra Jovanovic from LUGO hopes Leiden will win. ‘We'll give regular updates via Facebook about how many mobiles we've collected. According to the developers, the games computer can hold 250 mobiles, but it would be great to have our computer overflowing with mobiles,' she laughs.
You can recycle your mobile phone from 15 January to 8 February in the central hall of Lipsius by throwing it into the Funky Phone games computer. Other collection points can be found at the other faculties and in The Hague at Wijnhaven. Instead of using a coin, you throw your discarded phone in and play some great arcade games. The Funky Phone games computer, developed by E-Waste Arcades, is an old-school arcade machine that rewards you for recycling your old mobile. By making recycling fun and easy, E-waste Arcades aims to promote the re-use of raw materials and raise awareness about electronic waste.