Motorola puts a green jacket on a carbon-neutral handset

In the latest attempt to assuage consumers into buying more new stuff by telling them it's good for the environment, Motorola has announced a cell phone that it says is made out of recycled water bottles and is carbon-neutral.

"Through an alliance with Carbonfund.org, Motorola offsets the carbon dioxide required to manufacture, distribute and operate the phone through investments in renewable energy sources and reforestation," reads a company statement this morning announcing the company's new Motorola W233, dubbed the "Renew." "The phone has earned Carbonfund.org's CarbonFree Product Certification after an extensive product life-cycle assessment."

Though Carbonfund gave Motorola a certificate, the extent of what it certifies may be in dispute. "Carbonfund.org does not provide detailed explanations of how the projects work," explained muckraking Mother Jones Magazine in a blog post earlier this year. (For more on Carbonfund, check out its Form 990, a required IRS document for nonprofit organizations, from this PDF file.)

Motorola also reduced packaging by 22% and used 100% post-consumer recycled paper in the packaging, as well as including a postage-paid envelope for recycling one's previous phone. The phone, which reportedly has nine hours of talk time, is due out in the first quarter for an undisclosed amount of "green."