It’s a great offer for readers of the Independent.  Pay just £5 and get £10 airtime on the SIM.  Then you can double each of your first 3 top ups, up to a maximum of £20.  That’s potentially an extra £65 worth of credit!

Read on for the full story…

Green Phone Company is ringing the changes

A MOBILE phone company that offers PAYG customers the chance to save money and go green has been set up in a converted barn at Tarrant Hinton.  C Mobile is selling “SIM only” connections with tariffs 30 per cent cheaper than the major networks and will donate 20 per cent of its profits to community-based renewable energy projects.

“The mobile phone industry is working hard to improve its green credentials but we want to push from within to set a greener agenda,” said Jon Lobb, founder and chief executive officer.

“We are also committed to wider environmental projects, so will give 20 per cent of our profits to the C Mobile Trust to help get local renewable energy initiatives off the ground.”

No new masts will be built as the network will use the Everything Everywhere infrastructure and the company will recycle all mobile phones sent to it and sell a range of quality-reconditioned handsets.  Jon, who launched his company in January, started his career as a forester, managing estates for the National Trust. He has worked in telecoms since 1999 and built up a £20m business in five years, reducing the waste from the large numbers of returned mobile phones and consumer electronic goods.

C Mobile SIM cards are plain white to save printing and ink and are available in more than 100 Go Mobile stores in England and Wales and online from cmobile.co.uk as well as from Affordable Mobiles and through a partnership with Mumsnet.

“It’s great to be partnering with a company who are aiming to help push the mobile phone industry to make greener choices,” said Katie O’Donovan, head of communications at Mumsnet.

The choice of community projects will be overseen by the Green Advisory Board. Joanna Yarrow, cofounder and director of Beyond Green said this was a great opportunity to help community groups do their bit for the environment.

“The mobile phone industry is working on the impact it has on the environment and I’m very glad that C Mobile will be a force to help accelerate this process from within the industry,” she said.

Customers will be able to top up from £5 to £50 in £5 increments, so all options are covered!

To top up using the voucher, just call 1250 from your mobile or type #125*pin no.# and then press call.

There are 22,000 PayPoint terminals located in newsagents, convenience stores, supermarkets, garages and off licenses near you.

To find the nearest PayPoint terminal near you, use the agent locator found here:

http://www.paypoint.co.uk/locator.aspx

Topping Up made easy with C Mobile!

The timing of the grant helped to bridge a funding gap to enable the project to go ahead and ensure that other funding was not lost, so the school have already started the build work and are on track to complete this work in record time.

Tim Evans of The C Mobile Trust said, “Inspirational people like Sandra MacCourt and the team of teachers and parents who have siezed the opportunity to make this project happen should inspire many more people to take up the challenge.

Projects like this have the double benefit of leaving a legacy income for the school at the same time as ensuring the school has been able to reduce its carbon footprint and inspire a generation of children to understand their impact on the planet.”

Over the past 3 years the school has taken steps to reduce energy costs through prudent use, best value procurement and improvements to the building infrastructure. This is as a result of adult awareness of the responsibility they have in spending public money judiciously and pupil awareness of the implications of climate change.

More about the Project

They have already been awarded the National Eco School Green Flag Award for the work we have done so far on reducing energy waste, re-using and recycling materials. They have also gained recognition, through the Kent Clean School Red Flag Award, for the strong links established within and across the community.

Aldington Primary School’s sustainable Energy Micro Generation System includes the installation of a 10.2kWp solar photovoltaic (‘PV’) panels

The renewable energy technologies will:

1. Reduce the school’s carbon footprint,
2. Reduce the school’s energy bills and reliance on imported energy, and
3. Increase the children’s understanding of the feasibility and benefits of sustainable energy.

They expect to receive a net benefit  as a result of reduced electricity bills and income received from Feed-in Tariffs during their economic life (25 years for the PV panels).

The project supports the school’s already established eco-friendly focus whilst enhancing other projects endorsed by the community such as Aldington Environmental Centre.

You can read the full interview here:

http://good-energy.typepad.com/greenenergyrepublic/2011/01/a-phone-company-thats-ringing-true.html

New Good Energy partner C Mobile is a revolutionary pay-as-you-go mobile phone network fresh into the market. Determined to make a difference to climate change, the company has chosen Good Energy to supply its electricity and promises to pledge 20% of its profits to environmental projects in local communities, schools, clubs and non-profit groups. And all this while being 30% cheaper than every major UK mobile network. We caught up with founder Jon Lobb to find out more.
How did C Mobile come about?

I worked for the National Trust for 10 years managing woodlands and working on nature conservation so I’ve always had a passion for environmental issues. And then I got into the mobile phone business. It was the start of the dot-com boom and I got involved in a start up that we built into a company with a £20 million turnover and franchises all over the world. I decided to combine this knowledge with my ongoing passion for protecting the environment.

My first thought was, what do we all use? Mobile phones and energy – and probably far too much of that! People aren’t going to get rid of their mobile phones, they are a modern necessity. So why can’t we use them as a driver to do some good? And that good was to fund local renewable projects for community based and non-profit organisations. Vital to us was proving that it is possible to be a sustainable business in a very competitive sector.

How did you hear about Good Energy and what made you decide to become an affiliate partner?

It’s clear that we are on the same page. Microgeneration is about a lot of small changes giving you the long-term gain. And that’s directly influenced by my work in conservation. You might be looking after a two acre paddock and managing the habitat for butterflies. But taking the attitude that a two acre paddock doesn’t make a difference could mean you lose a whole butterfly species.

Tell us a bit more about your Advisory Panel.

The Panel help us to be as sustainable as we can within the business, but more importantly they assess potential renewable projects for us, providing a balanced view on how we can gain the greatest environmental impact for the money that we spend.

One project that particularly inspired us was right on our doorstep. St Andrews Primary School in Dorset recently secured the rights to use a nearby ancient disused mill race to generate hydro power. Once up and running the turbine should produce enough electricity for the entire school during term time. And in the holidays it will be earning them money thanks to the excess power exported to the grid.

Starting a business takes a lot of dedication. What gets you and your team up in the morning?

Being pioneers in such a well-established industry. It’s great to feel like you are creating something new from nothing and have the courage to look at something huge and try to change it for the better. That gives us the buzz when we wake up. But it also keeps us awake at night!

Challenge to Mobile Phone Giants by Firm in Old Barn

A COMPANY operating from a converted barn in a Dorset village is hoping its green credentials will help it take on the mobile phone network giants.  C Mobile claims to help save the environment while providing cheaper pay as you go calls.  Launched last month, C Mobile, of Tarrant Hinton, is selling SIM card-only connections with tariffs said to be 30 per cent cheaper than the major networks.  The company is also pledging 20 per cent of its profits to community-based renewable energy projects.  The network will operate on the mast infrastructure used by Orange and T Mobile.

Founder Jon Lobb said: “We can’t undo what’s already happened but the establishment of the mobile phone network has not been good to the environment. As I was driving along the M3 the other day I noticed every few miles a cluster of pylons.

“There’s a different pylon for each network but really they could all be accommodated on one.

“The mobile phone industry is working hard to improve its green credentials, but we want to push from within to set an even greener agenda.

“We are also committed to wider environmental projects through giving 20 per cent of our profits to the C Mobile Trust to help get local renewable energy initiatives off the ground.”

Mr Lobb, now C Mobile’s chief executive officer, started his career as a forester, managing estates for the National Trust at Stourhead.  He focused on habitat management for nature conservation and contributed to the Government’s White Paper on forestry expansion in 1997.  He has worked in telecommunications since 1999 and his environmental background encouraged him to work for a business start-up in 2004 that concentrated on reducing the waste from the large numbers of returned mobile phones and consumer electronic goods. He helped build this to a £20- million business in five years which was franchised across five countries.

C Mobile SIM cards are plain white, to save printing and ink and are available initially online from the website www.cmobile.co.uk, from Affordable Mobiles at  www.affordablemobiles.co.uk and through C Mobile’s partnership with Mumsnet on www.mumsnet.com.

Katie O’Donovan, head of communications at Mumsnet, said: “We’re very happy to have C Mobile as a partner, offering great deals for Mumsnet users. It’s great to be partnering witha company who are aiming to help push the mobile phone industry to make greener choices.”

The choice of the community projects funded by C Mobile trust will be overseen by the Green Advisory Board, whose members include Julia Hailes, author of the Green Consumer Guide and Joanna Yarrow, cofounder and director of Beyond Green.

The blog is an excellent read and we suggest you go ahead and check it out here:

http://community.brandrepublic.com/blogs/arnold_on_ethical_marketing/archive/2011/01/27/forget-t-mobile-green-is-the-new-orange.aspx

Answers to questions on our green credentials asked today:

Q. Do we offer a Uni-charger ?
A. Yes here is the link to our Unicharger

Q. What is our energy policy and footprint ?
A. The network is 100 % renewable energy powered.

Q. Conflict minerals in our phones
A. We provide a link from every handset to the Greenpeace electronics survey so users can see the evidence on the manufacturers before they buy.

Any more questions let us know.

‘Green Team’ at C mobile

C Mobile gives customers the green alternative for their network choice.

From today Pay As You Go (PAYG) users will have the chance to go green with their mobile phone network. C Mobile – which is offering SIM only connections, with competitive tariffs – will donate 20 per cent of its profits to community-based renewable energy projects.

Jon Lobb, founder and MD of C Mobile, said: “The mobile phone industry is working hard to improve its green credentials, but we want to push from within to set a greener agenda. We are also committed to wider environmental projects, so will give 20 per cent of our profits to the C Mobile Trust to help get community renewable energy initiatives off the ground.”

No new masts will be built to run the C Mobile network as they will be using the Orange infrastructure – running the network is one of the biggest environmental impacts the industry has. C Mobile will also recycle all mobile phones which are sent to them and will also be selling a range of quality-reconditioned handsets.  Their SIM card will be plain white, to save printing and ink. C Mobile SIM cards are available initially online: from the C Mobile website (www.cmobile.co.uk) and from Affordable Mobiles (www.affordablemobiles.co.uk).

The choice of the community projects funded by C Mobile trust will be overseen by the Green Advisory Board, whose members include Julia Hailes, author of the Green Consumer Guide and Joanna Yarrow, co-founder and director of Beyond Green.

www.cmobile.co.uk

For additional information:

Tim Evans, C Mobile: 01258 808228

The mobile phone industry

• Annual greenhouse gas emissions from the mobile industry worldwide are more than the airline industry (245 mega tonnes of CO2 gas emissions – GSMA Climate Group Green Manifesto – 2009)
• Two thirds of the carbon footprint of the mobile industry comes from the network.
• Seven out of ten SIMs sent out FREE are thrown in the bin because this silicon chip is seen as disposable.
• Over 100 million old mobile phones in the UK not used – of which most have a monetary value.
• Life of an average handset is 18 months despite typical natural useable life of up to 7 years.
• 15 million mobiles are upgraded in an average year.
• One mobile phone battery contains enough cadmium to pollute 600,000 litres of water and many mobiles are disposed of incorrectly in landfill, with the risk of groundwater contamination.

They calculated that the industry as a whole used 245 Million Tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2009 based on the 4,600 Million users; equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions of the Netherlands.

So each user has a footprint of 55 Kg of carbon per annum; most of this (84%) going on the power for the networks’ masts and operations, the rest on the handsets.

The good news is that the mast technology is becoming more efficient and more networks are sharing masts so the carbon footprint per consumer is coming down.

By showing this matters to you we can bring further pressure to bear on the changes we would like to see.

GSM Green Manifesto http://www.gsmworld.com/documents/mobiles_green_manifesto_11_09.pdf