Japanese telecom DOCOMO, in collaboration with Sharp and Olympus had developed a touch phone prototype out of surplus wood.  The phone, named the Touch Wood (insert sexual pun here), is a great example of sustainable design.

The Cyprus wood case ads a unique look to the phone while potentially offering a  more environmentally sound case than traditional plastic encased phones.  Unlike petroleum based plastics, wood is a low energy, natural and renewable material.

Rather than pillaging dwindling forests, the Touch Wood makes use of surplus wood left over from forest thinning operations.  There are no artificial paints or colors added to the wood, however, this phone is not hand carved.  It’s made in a proprietary compression molding process and their press release doesn’t mention what (if any) chemicals are used in this process.

Its difficult to say at such an early stage how environmentally friendly the Touch Wood actually is, however it is on the right path and will hopefully become more than just a questionably named prototype.