Ecotalk: A Phone Network That Funds Rewilding
ecotalk is a mobile network run on green energy. With great 5G coverage, unlike most phone companies that are in the business of selling phones, this company encourages you to keep your phone as long as possible (and buy refurbished phones) and just offers simple affordable plans.
Ecotalk operates a unique business model called ‘not for dividend’. This basically means that it does not exist to pay shareholders through dividends, instead uses profits to go back into the missions of giving land back to nature, creating vital habitats and restoring British wildlife.
How to Switch to Ecotalk
First of all, text INFO to 85075 from your current phone, to receive a text to say if you are still in contract, when it ends and if there are early termination fees. This way you can decide whether to switch immediately, or wait until your contract ends.
There are a range of SIM-only plans on rolling monthly contracts (with no exit fees if you decide to leave).
The company’s motto is ‘bees don’t sting’. In other words, you won’t get hooked into shock price increases. And if you need help, you speak to a real human. Not only that, you can remember the person’s name, and ask to speak to the same person next time!
It even has an affordable basic tariff for those of us with dumb phones (simple ‘make calls and send a text, if you’re not a smartphone user).
How to Activate Your New SIM
Once the SIM card is in your phone, just download the app, to activate your card in minutes. You can use a new phone number or keep your old phone number (contact your old provider for the PAC number or text PAC to 65075 from the current number).
To unlock your phone from the old network, text UNLOCK to 85075, to receive info (this is usually free and takes 3 to 5 working days).
To switch providers without changing your number, select this option when ordering your SIM, giving your STAC code (text 75075 – valid for 30 days).
Can You Make International Calls?
It costs £2 a day to make calls in the EU. Outside the EU, international roaming is activated automatically when you arrive, but know that calls will be more expensive, so check rates before travel.
Projects Supported by Ecotalk
Ecotalk works with ecological expert Chris Packham to choose rewilding sites (currently mostly in Sussex and Devon). Projects so far supported through this company’s donations include:
- Restoring habitats for beavers in Sussex
- Restoring habitats for wild barn owls
- Restoring natural hedge habitats for hedgehogs
- Planting flower-rich meadows and woodlands (Sussex)
- Protecting historic wet woodlands (Devon)
- Planting marshy scrapes (shallow ponds that prevent floods and provide habitats for wetland creatures) in Devon
Who Founded Ecotalk?
Dale Vince, an eco entrepreneur who grew up in Norfolk, and went onto found several green companies:
- Ecotricity (a green energy company that does not use abattoir waste to make biogas – he’s a passionate vegan, so won’t do it).
- Forest Green Kitchen offers plant-based (no palm oil) foods for the catering industry (including schools) in sustainable packaging.
- Forest Green Rovers – Dale bought this Gloucestershire football team a few years back. The food for players and spectators is plant-based, the kits and grass are both organic, and there are plans to build an eco-friendly stadium.
