Is there such a thing as a green mobile phone?

I know using mobile phones is pretty unethical and not very planet friendly, but hey in today’s society I couldn’t manage without one. Anyway, the solution is to get an ethical planet friendly mobile phone and contract. There is a company called Green Mobile that gives you a mobile tariff that helps the environment and soothes your conscience. Intrigued by the claim I read further. Basically what they do is give you a tariff on an existing network and ask you to keep your existing handset, or you can have a new or refurbished handset instead. By not getting a new handset for at least a year, you are reducing your environmental impact. The other thing they do is give £25 and 6% of your monthly bills to one of their partner charities, Friends of the Earth, WWF and the Woodland Trust. They will plant 5 trees on your behalf as well. It sounds pretty good, but I’ m not sure what kind of uptake they will get because most people want the newest and fanciest mobile phone they can get. For most people a mobile phone is as much a fashion or status symbol as it is a communications device.