Like a puppy or a kitten, a mobile phone is not just for Christmas you know.

Alright, so you don't have to walk your handset, feed it worming tablets or empty its litter tray, but phone ownership does come with a degree of responsibility -- well at least when it's time for that upgrade.

It sounds unbelievable but in the UK right now there are around 90 million unused mobile phones lying abandoned in drawers and cupboards. That works out at a staggering 1.5 unused phones per person, including babies who wouldn't know a Nokia from a nasty nappy. But what's really staggering is that for every 300 new handsets sold, only one is recycled.

However, Global Cool and Vodafone are already on the case and together have already collected over 100,000 unwanted phones. Donated phones and chargers are refurbished and redistributed around the world, while phones that can't be given a nice new home have all of their valuable metals, batteries and plastic bits recycled, which saves a whole heap of bad stuff ending up on a rubbish dump.