Gear Reviews

The overwhelming majority of iPhone and iPod accessories will arrive in your shopping bag complete with the usual ‘Made in China’ insignia, but with the Jivo Leaf you can go green in more ways than one.

The Leaf protective sleeve for the iPhone, launched exclusively in O2 stores in March, is completely Irish in design and manufacture.

And if that isn’t green enough to convince you to dip into your pocket, it’s a doubly protective gem with both your favourite gadget and your environment benefiting from use of the Leaf.

It prides itself as the first eco-friendly, biodegradable iPhone protector which will reduce one toe-nail of your carbon footprint by up to 90 per cent.

Produced by Dublin-based company Jivo, this particular piece of gear takes plastic accessory production to a revolutionary new sphere of existence.

Whereas your common or garden, Chinese-manufactured silicon-based iPhone protective case can take 50 years to degrade in landfill conditions, the Leaf – made solely through the use of organic materials – is biodegradable within five years, and should start to break down after just 12 months.

That’s due to the use of a radical new technique in which a specially-developed resin called Eco-Pure is injected into the plastic protective material.

And if you’re worried that this cover might start to rot right there in your pocket, don’t be daft. The resin only starts to react with bacteria after a period of time in the dump, so unless you’re living in really squalid conditions, the Leaf will continue to do its job until long after you’ve had enough.

The chunky Leaf imprint, which takes up a big part of the sleeve, may not be to every lad’s liking but the pros more than outweigh the cons with this little piece of Apple accessory.

What? Jivo Leaf

Where? Exclusively from O2 stores

What’s the damage? €19.99