Everyone can do their bit – our products and solutions support sustainable lifestyles.
At the present time, lots of people are thinking about how they can conserve resources and achieve a more sustainable way of living. Our products and solutions can help with precisely that. For example, we give people the tools they need to monitor their power consumption, use less paper, and avoid travel.
Paving the way with purchasing decisions
Deciding to buy an energy-saving product is already a big step in the right direction. However, consumers often find it difficult to identify the relevant product features. That is why Deutsche Telekom uses the widely recognized “Blue Angel“ and “TÜV Green Product” ecolabels, which virtually all Telekom Deutschland fixed-network devices carry. They are particularly energy-efficient, low-radiation, and often come with replaceable batteries. The transmission power of the products in our Speedphone range can also be customized to a lower setting, while automatic software updates extend service life.
In addition to these well-known quality marks, we use our own #GreenMagenta and #GoodMagenta labels to make it as easy as possible for customers to identify sustainable products. The #GreenMagenta label highlights products, services, projects, measures, and initiatives that help tackle climate change and ensure resources are used more responsibly. The #GoodMagenta label identifies projects, measures, and initiatives that actively help tackle social challenges in the digital world.
The Eco Rating evaluates the environmental impact of cell phones over the course of their entire life cycle, from the production and shipping of devices through to their use and disposal. Eco Ratings help customers to make informed purchasing decisions that are also more sustainable.
Smart living
Our customers can save up to 30 percent on their energy costs with Magenta SmartHome. The Magenta SmartHome app works like a remote control for the home, ensuring customers are always in control of light, heat, electricity, and many electronic devices – wherever they are. For example, they can operate their heating system from anywhere, as and when they like, resulting in lower energy consumption and costs.
The Deutsche Telekom Cloud is a particularly energy-efficient solution for storing data, and our Cloud offerings help customers to be much more economical than they would be if they were to run all their applications on computers at home. Together, better servers, data centers that are more energy efficient, and higher capacity utilization in our infrastructure help to drive down energy consumption and can also help shrink our customers’ carbon footprint.
Online security advice
The Deutsche Telekom Media sure! But secure. website tells users everything they need to know about cybercrime, malware, and phishing – including how to protect themselves from these dangers. Young people, adults, and businesses will find useful tips and practical help for all sorts of issues related to security and data protection.
Renting instead of buying – media receivers
We offer our customers a rental service for routers so they can hire a router from us for a monthly fee. If any technical issues occur, the router is replaced, with the faulty device being repaired wherever possible. In fact, within a circular economy, using products for as long as possible is usually the most sustainable option. Doing this conserves resources and reduces electronic scrap.
Consumers who don’t want to rent or buy their own device can embrace the sharing economy instead. Much more than just an idea or attitude, this approach is now transforming large sections of the communications industry. The “sharing instead of owning” mindset also does a great deal to conserve resources. It results in financial savings, less material waste, and better protection for the environment.
Teachtoday – initiative for using media safely
Using digital media comes naturally to young people, but they often are not fully aware of the risks or potential. Today, being able to use new technologies safely and proficiently from the very start is a crucial aspect of ensuring equality of opportunity. “Teachtoday” and “Awarenessi” are our initiatives to promote the safe and proficient use of media. They support children, young people, parents and grandparents as well as teachers by offering hands-on tips and material online and at face-to-face events.
Advice and support for children, young people, and adults
For 25 years, Deutsche Telekom has been supporting the work of the “Nummer gegen Kummer” youth counseling line, both financially and with technical expertise. Deutsche Telekom covers all connection costs and the technical side of routing and anonymizing calls and internet enquiries. Since 1997, Deutsche Telekom has provided two free call numbers from mobile and fixed networks for callers and organizers at the TelefonSeelsorge crisis counseling helpline. Deutsche Telekom staff also volunteer at the organization.
TelefonSeelsorge – a direct line for a good talk
Problems and crises can affect us at any stage of our lives, whether difficulties with partners, bullying, addiction, illness, or depression. A good talk can often be a great help. TelefonSeelsorge offers a direct line to a sympathetic ear, and Deutsche Telekom is a long-standing partner of the crisis counseling helpline. Since 1997, we have been supporting the organization with free call numbers and its technical infrastructure. Deutsche Telekom staff also volunteer as counselors.
Surfing without worrying about the climate
While reading this text online on your computer or smartphone, you are consuming energy. After all, your computer is connected to a power supply and your smartphone needs to be charged. That is not all, though, the network infrastructure in the background – the networks, radio masts, and huge data centers – also consumes energy. Does that mean surfing the web is bad for the climate? We want you to be able to surf without worrying about your impact on the climate. That’s why we obtain 100 percent of the power used to operate our entire network infrastructure from renewable sources. These sources (wind power, hydroelectric power and solar energy) are helping to slow climate change, as they do not emit any environmentally harmful greenhouse gases when used to generate electricity. From mobile and fixed networks to the internet and MagentaTV, our customers throughout the Group benefit from our green Deutsche Telekom network.
A sustainable cell phone recycling scheme
At the end of a product’s life cycle, we play our part to ensure it is reused or appropriately recycled. Depending on their condition, the mobile devices collected in Germany are properly disposed of and recycled, or refurbished and resold. Since introducing the cell phone collection scheme in 2003, Deutsche Telekom has already helped conserve resources by reusing or recycling more than three million used cell phones. Our sustainable cell phone recycling scheme was launched in 2019. It involves buying used devices that are in very good condition – including our customers’ old devices – reconditioning them, and selling them back to our customers with a new guarantee. Our reconditioned models are less expensive than new devices but still in excellent condition.
