London’s Red Phone Boxes Go Green

Let's face it–London's icons are a bit old. Those double decker buses were so dangerous, they were replaced (imagine walking down the bus stairs, holding bags and in heels while the bus turns a corner!)

A traditional red telephone box sits beside Big Ben and The Houses of Parliament in Parliament Square in London on August 4, 2012. Will Oliver/AFP/Getty Images; effects added by Epoch Times

Let’s face it–London’s icons are a bit old. Those double decker buses were so dangerous, they were replaced (imagine walking down the bus stairs, holding bags and in heels while the bus turns a corner!). The black taxis belch diesel and are clunky and noisy. And those red pillar phone boxes…well, who uses phone boxes anymore?

The answer is: you do!

Thanks to an idea from Harold Craston and Kirsty Kenny, two former geography students at London School of Economics, tourists and Londoners alike will be once again searching for a phone box–but this time, to charge their phones via roof fitted solar panels.

Logically, the boxes will be painted green, and to pay for the free service,  adverts will be broadcast as you wait for the device to charge. So far, Tinder and Uber have signed up as advertisers. Interestingly, the latter is set to replace those old-fashioned black cabs with cheaper, more eco-friendly rides (most Uber Pop vehicles in London are hybrids or electric).

Traditional London telephone box (R) to be transformed into a solar-powered mobile phone charger, is pictured next to a traditional red telephone box in central London, on October 1, 2014. Carl Court/AFP/Getty Images