According to new research by Nokia, one of the world's leading mobile phone manufacturers, only ten per cent of us bother to recycle our old phones, the rest of us squirreling them away in drawers at home or, even worse, chucking them in the bin.
Obviously, from an environmental point of view this is a pretty scandalous state of affairs, especially when there are so many ways to recycle a mobile phone. All the major mobile phone companies are members of Fonebak, an industry-wide initiative that provides recycling bins in high street stores. In fact, it's so easy to recycle a mobile phone by dropping it into one of these bins, there's really no excuse for throwing your old phone away.
If you can't make it to a store, simply remove your phone's SIM card, pop it in a jiffy bag and mail it to 'FREEPOST Fonebak'. Your phone will then be refurbished for use in a developing country or, if it's not suitable for re-use, it'll be sent for recycling ensuring that nothing ends up in landfill.
All the major charity shops will also accept your old mobile phone for recycling, again either sending your reconditioned phone to a developing country or selling them on to raise much-needed funds. If you're not feeling particularly charitable, you can also get cash back on your old mobile phone, depending on the make, model and what condition it's in.
To see what your phone might be worth, check out current prices at www.envirofone.com or www.fonebank.com.
Big name stores have been keen to get in on the act, too, with Tesco (www.tescomobilerecycle.com) offering 300 Club Card points for every working mobile plus cash offers up to £70, while Boots offers rewards worth up to 5,000 Advantage Card points.
If you run a local charity or community group, you might also be interested in Community Fonebak (www.communityfonebak.com), the UK's first nationwide mobile phone recycling scheme designed to raise funds for local organisations.
Participating groups are provided with a special kit to help them get started and are paid £4 for each working phone that's collected.
Of course, what we should really be doing is hanging onto our mobile phones for as long as possible and not be seduced into buying the latest flashy models just for the sake of looking cool or fashionable.
Modern mobiles are designed to last for five years and, with a little care and attention, can go on working for even longer. I've had my own phone for four years now and it's still going strong.
I've also recently signed up for the UK's first environmentally friendly phone tariff from Green Mobile (www.greenmobile.co.uk; 0845 233 3333). As well as beating my previous tariff from another provider, the company also plants three trees for each new mobile account.
If you opt to keep your existing handset (as I've done), it'll also give a £25 donation to one of the three charities it works with – The Woodland Trust, Friends of the Earth and the Environmental Investigation Agency – along with six per cent of your monthly phone bill.
To make sure your mobile remains in tip-top condition and you're using it in an as environmentally friendly manner as possible, there are a number of things you can do.
Firstly, buy a protective case instead of chucking it in your handbag or letting it jiggle around in your pocket with a bunch of keys and loose change. Sure, it'll make your phone a little more bulky, but these things really do protect your mobile from bumps and scrapes.
Secondly, make sure you don't waste energy by leaving your charger switched on when your phone is already fully charged.
You'll just be providing an extra source of heat to the battery that'll slowly degrade its performance. Once your phone is fully charged, disconnect it from your charger and unplug your charger from the wall socket.
Hopefully, if we all learn to re-use and recycle our mobile phones properly, we can prevent millions of devices ending up in landfill each year and polluting the environment.
Now that's something to phone home about…