Good Cause initiative – collecting cell phones for a good cause
Many of us have discarded or defective cell phones that contain valuable resources gathering dust in a drawer somewhere. We launched the Good Cause initiative in Europe in 2022 with the aim of returning these devices to the cell-phone ecosystem while doing some good at the same time. Almost all of our European national companies are involved in the initiative. The goal is to collect discarded devices on an ongoing basis until 2024, returning the valuable resources they contain to the cell phone ecosystem. For every cell phone collected, we make a donation to local projects working in one of the following areas: marine conservation, forest conservation, or ICT solutions to tackle climate change. In addition to donations, each funded project receives a fixed sum of money annually from the Group or the respective national company to strengthen continuity and planning. Projects are also supported by a local NGO or local authorities.
Below you will find three examples of projects that have been launched under the umbrella of the Good Cause initiative:
Cleaning up beaches with Mediterranean CleanUp (marine conservation) The OTE Group in Greece is working with NGO Enaleia to support and sponsor the Mediterranean CleanUp project. The goal is to curb plastic pollution in the coastal regions and seas of the islands of Corfu, Kefalonia, Skiathos and Agios Nikolaos (Crete). The project involves local stakeholders such as fishing communities and students in order to raise public awareness of the problems caused by plastic pollution.
Reforestation at the Ottenstein Reservoir (forest conservation) Magenta Telekom in Austria has been working with NGO “Gut Ottenstein” since March 2022 to support reforestation work in the region around the Ottenstein Reservoir. It has become necessary to plant new trees following storm damage, the death of local ash trees, and felling as a result of a massive bark beetle infestation. The project also aims to promote sustainable agriculture, pond cultures and forestry, along with the production of regional produce.
Clever Landscape project (ICT solutions to tackle climate change) Clever Landscape is a long-term project by T-Mobile Czech Republic and the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague. It seeks to develop and implement measures for mitigating the negative impact of climate change and of extreme hydrological events on forests. The project is based in a model area over 1 700 hectares in size close to Prague in the Czech Republic. Sensors and measuring equipment have been installed in the area to enable researchers to monitor and analyze a range of parameters, including humidity, temperature, groundwater, and tree growth. The findings will be used to identify and model the potential impact of climate change, with a view to then adapting the landscape to the changes in natural conditions. It should be possible to apply the findings and methods to similar types of landscapes in future. T-Mobile Czech Republic is supporting the project through donations from the Good Cause initiative, most notably for the establishment of a campus data network to facilitate the mass deployment of sensors and faster data analysis, among other things.
Many of us have discarded or defective cell phones that contain valuable resources gathering dust in a drawer somewhere. We launched the Good Cause initiative in Europe in 2022 with the aim of returning these devices to the cell-phone ecosystem while doing some good at the same time. Almost all of our European national companies are involved in the initiative. The goal is to collect discarded devices on an ongoing basis until 2024, returning the valuable resources they contain to the cell phone ecosystem. For every cell phone collected, we make a donation to local projects working in one of the following areas: marine conservation, forest conservation, or ICT
solutions to tackle climate change. In addition to donations, each funded project receives a fixed sum of money annually from the Group or the respective national company to strengthen continuity and planning. Projects are also supported by a local NGO or local authorities.
Below you will find three examples of projects that have been launched under the umbrella of the Good Cause initiative:
Cleaning up beaches with Mediterranean CleanUp (marine conservation)
such as fishing communities and students in order to raise public awareness of the problems caused by plastic pollution.
The OTE Group in Greece is working with NGO Enaleia to support and sponsor the Mediterranean CleanUp project. The goal is to curb plastic pollution in the coastal regions and seas of the islands of Corfu, Kefalonia, Skiathos and Agios Nikolaos (Crete). The project involves local stakeholders
Reforestation at the Ottenstein Reservoir (forest conservation)
Magenta Telekom in Austria has been working with NGO “Gut Ottenstein” since March 2022 to support reforestation work in the region around the Ottenstein Reservoir. It has become necessary to plant new trees following storm damage, the death of local ash trees, and felling as a result of a massive bark beetle infestation. The project also aims to promote sustainable agriculture, pond cultures and forestry, along with the production of regional produce.
Clever Landscape project (ICT solutions to tackle climate change)
Clever Landscape is a long-term project by T-Mobile Czech Republic and the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague. It seeks to develop and implement measures for mitigating the negative impact of climate change and of extreme hydrological events on forests. The project is based in a model area over 1 700 hectares in size close to Prague in the Czech Republic. Sensors and measuring equipment have been installed in the area to enable researchers to monitor and analyze a range of parameters, including humidity, temperature, groundwater, and tree growth. The findings will be used to identify and model the potential impact of climate change, with a view to then adapting the landscape to the changes in natural conditions. It should be possible to apply the findings and methods to similar types of landscapes in future. T-Mobile Czech Republic is supporting the project through donations from the Good Cause initiative, most notably for the establishment of a campus data network to facilitate the mass deployment of sensors and faster data analysis, among other things.