Nashua Mobile is donating R55,700 to Food and Trees for Africa (FTFA) for the months of April and May in line with its promise to donate R10 to the organisation for every one of its subscribers who opt to receive electronic bills rather than paper-based statements for their monthly accounts.

During April, 164 Nashua Mobile staff members as well as 2620 subscribers made the switch to electronic billing. In May, Nashua Mobile managed to convert an additional 2780 customers to E-mail billing.

FTFA is a national public benefit organisation that promotes sustainable natural resource management and seeks to contribute towards food security and greening in South Africa.

The money that Nashua Mobile donates to FTFA will be used to plant trees in the communities where the company does business, and especially in disadvantaged areas. FTFA planted more than 41,000 trees in 195 communities during the 2007 financial year.

Says Mark Taylor, managing director of Nashua Mobile: `We are pleased with the results that we have achieved in the first two months of our electronic billing drive, but we still have hundreds of thousands of subscribers receiving paper-based bills.

`As more of our customers move away from paper-based bills, we will be helping to save numerous trees and many litres of water, as well as reducing solid waste and toxic air pollutants. This initiative is a long-term effort, and we expect to make out more substantial cheques to FTFA in the months to come.`

`Electronic bills have a number of advantages for the subscriber in addition to the benefit they bring to the environment,` notes Taylor.

`They are easy to process, manage and store and contain a wealth of information that can be easily searched and sorted. Customers can opt to receive their monthly bills by email and are also encouraged to register at Nashua Mobile`s online billing portal at WWW.nashuamobile.com, where they can view bills and other information at their leisure.

`The excellent response from our employees is especially pleasing. We are committed to using natural resources in a sustainable way and limiting the impact that our business has on the environment. Encouraging our employees and customers to rely less on paper is one way we can help preserve our environment,` concludes Taylor.

According to Food and Trees for Africa should Nashua Mobile continue to enjoy such success with this campaign the total number of trees to be planted by Nashua Mobile to offset carbon generation by paper billing on an annual basis will be 3 555 trees.