If you subscribe to a mobile phone service, when time comes to renew your contract, consider switching to one of these ethical alternatives (it may even be worth switching immediately if you can, as cheaper prices may mean it’s worth the exit fee).
All of them use subscriptions to do some kind of social good, whether that’s helping the planet, or providing affordable calls for those on low incomes.
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Meaningful Planet: Funds Rewilding
Meaningful Planet is a unique sustainable mobile network that transforms your contract into a force for good, using 10% of profits to fund nature projects across the UK (see below for more details).
You get excellent 5G coverage (on the same infrastructure as EE) and pricing is clear and fair. Join thousands of other happy customers, who have made the switch!
How to Switch to Meaningful Planet
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.
Choose from rolling or fixed term contracts of 12 or 24 months, offering 3GB to unlimited data (from £11 to £30 a month), whichever plan you choose.
You can manage your account within the user-friendly apps (for both Android and Apple) or use the online portal. Use either to view your usage, pay bills, adjust your plan and access customer support.
To join, just order your SIM, which will arrive in the next few days. This is made from recycled plastic, with packaging made from wildflower paper, to help pollinators like bees, butterflies and bats.
Some wildflowers are not safe near animal friends, so if you live with or near pets, give to someone with a pet-free home. Also don’t face indoor foliage to face outdoor gardens, to help stop birds flying into windows.
To plant wildflower seed paper, soak in a little water for at least 12 hours, to aid germination. Then plant in a used yoghurt pot or seed tray filled with peat-free soil, cover with a thin layer of soil, and spray with water daily, to avoid it drying out.
Place the pot somewhere warm and light, and seeds could germinate in around a week (if planting outdoors, do so in early summer, to avoid frost).
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).
For business accounts, send all the PAC codes to your account manager (or Meaningful Planet’s support team). It will then handle transfers on your chosen date, for as little downtime as possible (most within 2 days).
Can You Make International Calls?
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, for more affordable options (say if you regularly talk to relatives, friends or colleagues abroad). Some plans include a bundle of minutes to specific countries.
Projects Supported by Meaningful Planet
The projects funded are mainly to do with capturing carbon emissions (rewilding, restoring peatland and seagrass meadows). Projects so far supported through this company’s donations include:
- 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: Also 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.
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 and free global roaming.
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.
Who Founded Honest Mobile?
A couple of 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 and giving top-notch customer service.
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!
SimPal (pre-paid SIM cards for low incomes)
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. O 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 (preferably factory-reset) to their website’s registered address, if you have any sitting unused in drawers.
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, if wished.
The optional Sharer Plan lets one leader use the main data, which can be shared with colleagues. This avoids paying for more data allowances.
