Mobile phones recycled through MobileMuster’s Old Phones, More Trees campaign are funding tree-planting programs in Western Australia's wheatbelt.

MobileMuster’s Old Phones More Trees campaign is a joint initiative with Landcare Australia. For every handset recycled in May 2008 they pledged to plant a native tree.

In its second year, MobileMuster’s Old Phones, More Trees campaign collected just over 100,000 handsets for recycling - 25,000 more than last year.

As a result, MobileMuster has provided funds to West Midlands Group to plant more than 7000 trees on the sandy soils of the eastern wheatbelt, about 350 kilometres north-east of Perth.

Bronwyn Fox, Executive Officer of the West Midlands Group, says the phone-funded trees will help farmers in the group manage erosion.

"The West Midlands region has been identified Australia wide as a high-wind erosion risk area," she says.

"We're trying to work on that issue at the moment, and this is just one way we think farmers can help manage their soils a little bit better."

Rose Read, AMTA’s Manager, Recycling, said: “The West Midlands project is one of 13 Landcare Australia projects selected under MobileMuster’s Old Phones More Trees campaign in 2008.

“By 2010, Australians, who have recycled their mobile phones through the MobileMuster program, will have helped Landcare groups plant more than 175,000 native trees, absorbing the equivalent of 70,000 tons of carbon emissions or taking 10,000 cars off the road for one year.”

Brian Scarsbrick, CEO Landcare Australia, says the program was having a huge impact across Australia.

“The ’Old Phones, More Trees’ campaign is a great example of how many people participating in small actions, such as recycling old mobile phones, can lead to a large environmental impact, including reducing waste, storing carbon through revegetation and recreating native habitat. These actions are all vital in tackling the big issue of climate change.”

Many degraded areas across Australia will benefit from the campaign, including Sisters Creek in Tasmania; Swan Reach in South Australia; Holbrook in New South Wales; Humpty Doo and Rapid Creek in the Northern Territory; Holt, Campbell, Kambah and Ginninderra Creek in the Australia Capital Territory and Brisbane Valley in Queensland.