"Battery full - please unplug your charger"

According to the Energy Saving Trust, UK consumers' penchant for leaving their mobile phone chargers turned on at all times is costing them £47m a year and leading to 250,000 tonnes of unnecessary carbon emissions.

But mobile phone manufacturer Nokia thinks it may have come up with an innovative and refreshingly simple answer to this thorny problem.

According to Nokia's director of environmental affairs, Markus Terho, next year will see the launch of a major energy efficiency drive by the company that will see all new phones include a standard reminder on the display alongside the battery charged message reminding users to unplug their charger.

"We  know customers want to see more action from company's to help them reduce their environmental impact," he said. "Alongside work to reduce the energy consumed by our chargers we also think this reminder will prove effective."

It will be interesting to see if the kind of users already too distracted or lazy to turn off their chargers will respond to a written message on their phone screen. But Nokia is to be applauded for trying to find a simple solution to the problem and if it works effectively the company may have uncovered an effective solution to the problem while it continues to enhance the efficiency of its chargers.

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