Around the globe, there are currently five billion mobile phone users.

The average amount of time people keep their phones is 22 months and one billion new handsets are bought each year.

That equals a huge pile of phone cases heading to landfill or, worse, the oceans.

So GQ went in search of the best eco-friendly cases, based on style, material and durability.

What makes a phone case eco-friendly? 

If you’re looking for a new case, look for the following to ensure they really aren’t hurting the earth:

• Made from natural, sustainable and easily biodegradable materials, such as bamboo, cork or sustainably harvested wood.
• Alternatively, biodegradable plastic or recycled plastic.
• Using nontoxic materials (glues, adhesives, lining).
• Carbon-neutral validation.
• Environmental certifications

Wild

Biodegradable and compostable, Wild phone cases are made from bamboo straw and PBAT bioplastic, meaning they can be composted at home (unlike TPU cases).

With millions of phone cases being sold every year, this is one big way we can reduce plastic usage and make the most of the renewable resources that we have.

Better still, five per cent of each sale goes to the Ocean Cleanup, an organization that is developing technologies to help tackle plastic pollution. wearthlondon.com

Loam & Lore

Loam & Lore is a small, family-owned company with a big dream: to help the world become single-use-plastic-free and reduce global plastic waste.

Its donate ten per cent of profits to The Amazon Conservation Team, who is helping protect the Amazon rainforest, its indigenous people and its wildlife.

L&L also makes compostable phone cases out of natural and sustainable plant-based biodegradable materials.  lomeandlore.com

A Good Company

Zero per cent plastic, 100 per cent design.

A Good Company phone cases are made from linseed plant waste, grown by a local farmer in Sweden.

They are 100 per cent biodegradable and the company plants one tree for every case, also offering a swap-and-recycle scheme for their phone cases.  agood.com

iMakeTheCase

Made out of bamboo, these cases can be personalised via laser engraving in iMakeTheCase’s workshop in Costa Mesa, California.

Bamboo is revered as “eco-friendly” because it’s fast-growing and can yield 20 times more wood than trees.

Bamboo also releases 35 per cent more oxygen than trees of similar size.  imakethecase.com

Pela

Pela makes its phone cases from flax straw combined with a bioplastic elastomer, also known as “flaxstic”.

Free from phthalates, BPA, cadmium and lead, these cases meet EU biodegradability standards – they’ll even break down in your garden compost.  pelacase.com

Popsicase

This small Barcelona-based company makes its cases from recycled fishing net fibres used in the Mediterranean.

The handle is also made from recycled aluminium and helps you really get a grip on your phone.  popsicase.com

Skate4Create

To all skater dudes, this one is for you...

Handmade in Lithuania from old decks, all of these cases are unique. skate4create.com

MMore

Stripping something so modern back to the elements, MMore makes its cases from organic materials, from pressed flowers to coffee beans.  mmore.net

Carved

Release your inner cowboy with these hand-crafted phone cases from Indiana.

They are made from wood, meaning every case is unique.  carved.com