While we make conscious decisions to reduce our environmental impacts each day —whether it’s bringing reusable bags to the supermarket or switching to an ethical super fund — even the most eco-conscious consumers can find themselves backed into corners with no or few environmentally-friendly alternatives to a necessary service.
Our phones do so much to connect us with others and inform us every day, and yet, with just our mobile usage, Australians contribute one million tons of carbon dioxide through the data centres and mobile towers that support our phones every year.
Until now, there’s been no real solution to that problem, but today Australia’s first carbon-neutral phone plan launches from felix. The revolutionary new SIM provider is the first in Australia to be powered by 100% renewable electricity, and the small team behind the brand has a bunch of other admirable initiatives in place to combat the climate crisis.
felix offers just one SIM-only plan. For $35 a month, users are awarded endless data at speeds of up to 5Mbps, which allows for endless streaming, reading, scrolling and listening. The plan also includes endless standard calls and texts in Australia, operated on the Vodafone 4G mobile network.
There are no hidden fees and no lock-in contracts. If you’re not feeling it, you can easily pause or cancel whenever you like. Signing up is really easy, too, and new customers can choose to either keep their mobile number or opt for a new one.
“felix’s single plan, app-first approach is part of our goal to deliver a digital mobile brand that starts conversations — through simplicity, outstanding customer experience and by having a positive impact on our planet,” says Paul Tierney, general manager business development at felix.
“We are giving customers the option of a mobile plan that not only offers great value but also helps to reduce their carbon footprint, through our commitments to renewable electricity and reforestation initiatives with the goal to plant one million trees.”
felix has committed to planting a tree each month for every single customer that holds an active subscription with the provider. The telco has partnered with global reforestation not-for-profit, One Tree Planted, with a goal of planting one million trees in local and global projects.
“This is not as a special promotion, or only for new customers; this is for every single customer as it’s the right thing to do,” the team at felix says. “We plant these trees on top of being certified carbon neutral and powered by 100% renewable electricity. This way, customers can have peace of mind that they’re doing a little bit of extra good just by being with felix, but with no extra leg work on their part.”
On its decision to plant trees, felix says: “Trees help clean the air we breathe, filter the water we drink and provide habitat to over 80% of the world’s land animals. Forests provide jobs to over 1.6 billion people, absorb harmful carbon from the atmosphere and are key ingredients in 25% of all medicines. They’re a home, an employer and a purifier.”
The new telco is available to Australians today. The plan can be purchased online and managed via the site or felix app.
“Being a force for good is what really drives us — we’re a small team working to create a better future,” says the team at felix. “It’s good value with good values.”