Don’t Throw a Fit—Toss a Cellphone Instead

Finland is known for outside-the-box thinking when it comes to a lot of things, especially education. But now Finns have come up with a new way to de-stress and disconnect: A town in southeast Finland is hosting a Mobile Phone Throwing Competition. The contest started for two main reasons. First, Finns had a lot of old phones hanging around since they admit to upgrading as soon as new models emerge; second, phones cause a lot of frustration. This was their way to recycle while getting back at the dreaded machines that have taken over large parts of our existence. The BBC details some of the rules of the event:

While competitors cannot throw their own phones ? as much as they might like to sometimes ? the competition organisers provide hundreds of mobiles to choose from, all of which have been donated over the previous year and screened for safety. All kinds of models and brands are represented among the mobiles, which competitors then launch as far as possible from the throwing area. Last year’s winner Ere Karjalainen set a world record with his 101.46m throw, giving credit to drinking and practicing once as his preferred training methods.

Those without a strong throwing arm can enter the freestyle competition, during which the style and aesthetics of the throw are judged rather than the distance. A three-person jury gives scores from one to six, and the thrower with the highest number of points wins.

The annual contest will take place Saturday in Savonlinna, Finland. Who knows, maybe someone will set another world record to break last year’s 331.37 foot toss!

—Posted by Natasha Hakimi