Ethical Mobile Phone Networks (the best choices)
So you’ve switched to a more sustainable smartphone and recycled unwanted phones lying in drawers. So now what do you to help even more? How about switching your tariff to a sustainable phone network?
Just imagine if everyone in England switched to one of the companies below? It would mean a few small ethical companies, no more high streets ‘littered’ with expensive phone shops and pushy sales. And our wildlife charities and people on low incomes would all receive collective millions of pounds in donations.
You may be locked into a contract. If so, leave when you can. And also consider that with cheaper prices, you may even be better off paying the exit fee, you’ll have to do the maths!
Meaningful Planet Phone Network (funds nature projects)
Meaningful Planet is can transform your mobile contract into a force for good, donating 10% of profits to fund nature projects across the UK. You receive excellent 5G coverage, with clear fair pricing. Join thousands of other happy customers!
Use discount codes:
- MPLAN20 (20% off the first 6 months on any plan)
- MPLANET50 (50% off the first 3 months on any plan)
To switch, just 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.
Choose from rolling or fixed term contracts of 12 or 24 months, offering 3GB to unlimited data (from £11 to £30 a month). You can manage your account via app or use the online portal (to view usage and pay bills).
The recycled plastic SIM card is in plantable paper (most wildflowers are not safe near pets, so gift to a pet-free home (indoors, avoid facing foliage to outdoor gardens, to stop birds flying into windows.
Once the SIM is in your phone, just download the app to activate your card in minutes (you can use a new number of keep your old one – ask your old provider for a PAC number or text PAC to 65075). 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).
For business accounts, send all PAC codes to your account manager (or Meaningful Planet’s support team) that will handle transfers on a chosen date, with less than two days downtime.
The bundles include free EU roaming. Outside the EU, calls are more expensive, so Meaningful Planet offers pre-purchased data and minute bundles for all regions (so you can talk to relatives, friends or colleagues abroad). Some plans include a bundle of minutes to specific countries.
Projects Supported by Meaningful Planet
This company uses profits to fund projects for rewilding, restoring peatlands and seagrass meadows – important for endangered sea turtles and seahorses). Some recent ones are:
- Rewilding of beavers in Northamptonshire
- Kelp restoration in Sussex
- Peatland restoration in The Fens
- Helping nature in north Yorkshire
- Restoring seagrass in the Solent
- Oyster restoration in the Humber
- Protecting chalk streams in southern England
- Rewilding Strawberry Hill
- River restoration at Ickenham Marshes
- Grassland restoration at Gutteridge Wood Nature Reserve
- Rewilding pine martens in southeast England
Ecotalk Phone Network (funds rewilding projects)
ecotalk is another mobile network that funds rewilding for birds and native wildlife. Run on green energy (the founder is the man who runs Ecotricity – one of the few renewables that does not burn abattoir waste to make ‘green energy’), this offers 5G coverage and simple affordable plans, encouraging you to keep your present phone as long as possible, to stop electronic waste. The business model ‘not for dividend’ uses profits to give back to nature, rather than pay shareholders.
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).
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
Honest Mobile (gradually reducing bills)
Honest Mobile is a unique company, that aims to take over from the big mobile companies. There’s a Smart SIM that works alongside for unbeatable signal.
But its flagship offering is the Everyday SIM with unlimited calls and texts. Run on fast 5G, bills gradually reduce with loyalty, for savings up to 30% (with 5 days free EU roaming for every trip). You can update your 30 day or 12 month plan whenever you like, and get help from their friendly support team, at any time.
Once you’ve signed up, you’ll receive a (recycled plastic) SIM card. Just enter the last 4 digits of the number on the back into the app with the option to keep your number, or get a new one. If transferring your number, wait until your old SIM stops working, then swap in your Honest SIM, and your old plan will cancel.
Founded by young eco-entrepreneurs, who were fed up of the big phone networks charging more and giving less. So they decided to build the best mobile network for everyday people, rewarding customer loyalty.
The company is also passionate about helping the planet. It removes carbon emissions, all packaging is made from post-consumer recycled plastic and it never sends paper bills to customers. The office runs on clean energy, and even their (vegan) snacks cupboard is packed with eco-friendly brands!
Lebara (simple plans, no strings attached)
Lebara has no contracts to lock you into, nor yearly price hikes like the big phone companies. Running on Vodafone (with 5G included at no extra cost), plans also include EU roaming. Whereas the top three companies charges around £18 a month, this brand charges a fiver!
This growing company (also available in France, German, Denmark and The Netherlands) is growing fast for those who prefer simplicity and fair prices.
Spusi is another low-cost fair monthly plan.
SimPal (pre-paid SIM cards for low incomes)
Obviously it’s not good to be on your phone all the time. But these days, not having access to a mobile phone can sometimes leave vulnerable people feeling scared and alone, and even cut off from their GP or being able to find a job. Or claim benefits that they are entitled to.
SimPal is an award-winning charity that provides free pre-paid SIM cards (6 months duration with 20G data per month) to people affected by digital poverty. Or those living with cancer or poor health. Where possible, actual phones are also provided. This lets people on low incomes stay in touch, call for help or apply for jobs and benefits (the service is not means-tested).
The charity welcomes donated factory-set 4G working phones to their website’s registered address, if you have any sitting in drawers. These must be in working condition (no broken screens, with passwords and Google accounts removed).
Here are testimonials from people who have benefited from Simpal:
A woman in London with multiple disabilities had her 8-year phone break. This cut her off from healthcare professionals, support staff and vital services. She could not manage her care, pay bills or plan any travel.
A young boy with cancer was undergoing medical treatment for leukaemia and other serious conditions. A mobile phone and SIM helped him stay in touch with medical teams, school and family (including when he was in hospital for a long time).
A patient with breathing difficulties (who finds it difficult to even move independently) now can order food, contact the GP and feel more connected.
A refugee living in emergency accommodation was disconnected from his housing officer and support services, when his phone broke. His new phone is now the turning point to a stable job, income and home.
A homeless man (due to family breakdown) ended up feeling hopeless, and even got arrested. He’s now building his life again with professional support, after mental health issues. Thanks to Simpal, he now has a phone to stay in contact with friends and his probation officer, and ensure he can access his benefits, to get his life sorted.
GoodCall (line-rentals for non-profits)
GoodCall is a social enterprise offering mobile phones and line rental for non-profits, at an average saving of 40%. Created by a business partnering with a Scottish homelessness charity, it has collectively saved small charities hundreds of thousands of pounds.
It does this by only offering needed services, rather than signing up charities to premium plans. Operating on EE with good coverage for most areas, it can also supply phones and SIM cards.
The optional Sharer Plan lets one leader use the main data, which can be shared with colleagues. This avoids paying for more data allowances.
So far, GoodCall has saved non-profits a combined £150,000 in telephone fees, money which are then used for other projects. It has saved around 40% on contract costs, for over 200 organisations.
The benefits are immense. For instance, the average mobile phone shop confuses the average techy person, with all the complicated and expensive contracts and tie-ins, and trying to sell different types of phones. And even a standard landline contract is expensive and confusing.
So you can imagine: A tiny budget-strapped wildlife rescue charity or something like that. They are out at all hours rescuing animals and birds, and don’t want to be bothered with the headache over choosing a phone company (something that’s very important for people to call when wildlife need rescuing).
GoodCall simplifies everything, so charities get a good deal that’s simple and fair to understand. And as as a social enterprise, you know you’re not going to get ripped off.
GoodCall recommends Learn My Way, which offers free courses to gain digital skills. You’ll learn how to choose the right mobile phone, what a gigabyte is, and how to use a mouse and take photos (and important for charities, how to manage money donations online).
