Is it time to offset your mobile phone?

Carbon offset firm Renewable Choice Energy (RCE) is bringing the concept of renewable energy credits to mobile phones.

The company has signed a deal with North American retailer Best Buy to sell renewable energy credits (RECs) designed to offset the power used during the production and use of the phones.

The company, which launched the "Green your phone" initiative last week, is selling the renewable energy credits in $10 (£7) packs of two – one for the purchaser, and one for a friend.

RECs are US-specific credits used to offset the use of electricity by funding renewable energy projects.

RCE channels the money raised from the sale of RECs to a selection of wind energy projects, including a number of microgeneration projects run by schools.

"We like the idea of starting small, with a cellphone, and customers can choose to buy RECs with it," said Tom Holcomb, vice president of business development for the company. "It's something that Best Buy can do to educate and engage their customers."

Each sticker in the "Green your phone" pack – which are designed to be placed on the phone – represents 250 kilowatt-hours of energy – enough to produce a phone and power it for two years, according to Holcomb.

RCE used two reports to assess and verify the energy cost of producing and using mobile phones, he added. One was a 2002 study from Ericsson, and the other a 2005 report from Nokia.

The new service also serves to highlight the energy intensive nature of mobile phone production. It would take the average American, who consumes around 12 kilowatt-hours a year, more than 20 years to use up as much energy as it takes to manufacture and use one mobile phone for two years.