Telcos are going carbon neutral
Research indicates that Australian telcos’ mobile data networks account for over 500,000 tonnes of CO2 annually. To put this into perspective, that’s more than the amount of carbon emitted if you fly from Melbourne to Sydney over 3 million times a year.
Not surprisingly, however, most Australians are unaware of how much mobile data usage contributes to climate change. The same research conducted by BlissPoint for Belong suggests that 92 percent of Australians had no idea that their phone usage emits significant amounts of carbon.
But it’s not all bad news. The research also indicates that, upon discovering how much mobile data contributes to climate change, 40 percent of the respondents were willing to ditch their current SIM plans for a carbon-neutral telco. Sixty-two percent also considered the coronavirus pandemic a climate change and environmental wake-up call.
Thankfully, there are several carbon-neutral telcos in Australia, and we’ll tell you all about them in this post. Read on to find out which phone company is best for environmental impact, so your next SIM plan will contribute positively to the environment.
Carbon neutral vs. Net Zero carbon
First, it’ll be helpful to define two terms that describe companies’ efforts in the fight against climate change: Carbon Neutral and Net Zero carbon. While both terms are often used to convey an approach to reducing or eliminating carbon emissions, they represent two different ways and goals.
We published an article that clarifies the difference between “Carbon Neutral” and “Net Zero” carbon so that you can read all about it there. But for now, here’s a brief excerpt from that article:
- Carbon Neutral is all about offsetting energy usage to reduce emissions. For instance, a firm that wishes to be carbon neutral removes an amount of carbon from the atmosphere equal to the carbon the company produces to balance Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. To do this, companies can purchase carbon credits – essentially permission from the government to emit GHG to offset its effects. The other option is to support renewable energy initiatives of other entities. Neither of these requires the company to reduce its carbon emissions but instead just offset its emissions by reducing GHG from entities outside the company.
- Net Zero carbon, on the other hand, actually reduces the GHG emitted by the company rather than buying carbon credits and/or supporting renewable energy initiatives of other entities. For instance, if a company’s logistics involve transporting goods in large trailers ten times a week, a Net Zero approach would require that company to cut those trips in half and perhaps invest in renewable energy initiatives to offset the five weekly trips used for transporting goods. After all, the company cannot stop transporting goods, as that would mean an end to their business.
How telcos emit over half a million tonnes of CO2
Telcos use massive amounts of energy to provide the mobile networks you use every day. Unfortunately, traditional energy sources have significantly negative impacts on the environment, and that’s how Australian telcos release over half a million tonnes of CO2 every year.
Using electricity, fossil fuels, and other non-renewable sources is the norm for big firms worldwide. But such sources, as common as they are, are pretty harmful to our planet. As a result, several Australian telcos have now cut down or eliminated their use of traditional energy sources to become carbon neutral.
Carbon neutral phone companies in Australia
You emit carbon into the environment every time you use your mobile data. While your carbon footprint from your phone usage might not negatively impact the environment, the opposite is true when you consider the fact that there were over 32 million mobile connections in Australia last year. As a result, phone usage emits 1 million tonnes of CO2 every year, the equivalent of 386,000 passenger cars being driven on the road for an entire year.
To reduce your impact on the environment, you can either cut down on your phone usage significantly or switch to a SIM plan from a carbon-neutral telco. We believe the latter is a more reasonable solution, so here are the Australian phone companies that are carbon neutral:
- Belong has been certified carbon neutral since 2019, long before its parent company Telstra. The telco became fully digital in 2020, further reducing its carbon footprint. The phone company has also launched a “carbon thumbprint app” which allows customers track their mobile data emissions. Belong offers postpaid, month-to-month SIM-only plans and NBN plans.
- Telstra became certified carbon neutral in July of 2020 after “[p]urchasing 2.3 million carbon offset credits from projects that avoid, reduce or remove greenhouse gas emissions from being released into the atmosphere”. Telstra has also pledged 50 percent further reductions by 2030 and usage of 100 percent renewable energy by 2025. The telco is also recycling to avoid resources ending up in landfills. To this end, the telco uses 100 percent renewable or recycled materials to make its branded packaging and plans to recycle 500,000 mobile phones and other devices by 2025. Telstra’s recycling approach has already reduced its greenhouse gasses by 11 percent.
- Optus is the latest telco with a climate action that pledges to get 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2025. The telco also recently launched Optus Eco, which advises customers on the simple ways they can reduce their carbon footprints, and gives suggestions such as recycling old phones and using eSIM plans instead of traditional SIM cards.
- TPG Telecom (Vodafone) has also pledged 100 percent of its energy will come from renewable sources by 2025. However, this pledge will not include parts of the telco that deal with NBN plans.
- Felix Mobile sources 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources. The telco is also fully digital, which reduces the need for physical offices and stores throughout Australia, thereby reducing the need for significant energy usage. Finally, the telco has pledged to plant a tree for each customer every month they remain active on a Felix SIM plan. According to the telco, one tree can sequester as much as 21kg of carbon annually. This telco offers one phone plan reselling the Vodafone network, which includes unlimited data with download speeds capped at 20Mbps.
Final words
Even ten years ago, it would have been unthinkable for a phone company to declare its environmental position, let alone use it as a marketing tactic to differentiate from its competitors positively. Now, given the state of the country’s consciousness, the very relevant droughts Australians have suffered, COVID-19, and the terrible floods and fires which have swept the country, Global Warming is front of mind for shoppers – even shoppers of phone plans.
Telcos like Optus, Telstra, and Vodafone play a material part in the natural disasters which happen to us. Frankly, it’s good to see climate change taken so seriously by phone companies these days. It wouldn’t be surprising if, someday soon, we will expect a new staple feature stating’ carbon neutral’ next to phone plan features like ‘data bank’ or ‘unlimited voice calls’.