How unique an idea would it be if you could juice up your cell phone just by cranking it up manually? Sound too good to be true? Maybe not – if the concept for the Bamboo phone by Dutch designer Gert-Jan van Breugel makes it to production.

The Bamboo cell phone, one of the finalists at the 2008 Greener Gadgets Design Competition, leaves no stone unturned in being eco-friendly. The most striking feature being: by keying it up for around 3 minutes, you can generate enough charge on your phone to take you through one call (call duration not specified). Which to me, is really exciting – apart from the fact that I do not have to carry my charger around at all times, it can also be a lovely power-saving mechanism.

The cell phone case itself is made up of 100% bio-degradable materials such as corn and bamboo, which means, if the phone is thrown into a compost (without the battery, antenna and printboard), it will decompose completely in a few weeks. With all this, the phone doesn’t compromise on looks either; if given a few options on the color, you'll love to show off its sleek design. A sure winner, this one.

Via Inhabitat.