Now available at T-Mobile: The Motorola Renew phone, unveiled at CES 2009 last month.

The W233 Renew doesn’t take photos. It doesn’t let you access your email. It has a smallish screen and a boring, old-school look. In short, there’s not much that would make this phone stand out, at least at first.

But what makes the Renew special is its impact, or lack thereof, on the environment. The Renew is made of recycled plastic bottles (which uses 20% less energy than standard plastic processing), and the case is 100% recyclable. It’s also carbon-neutral, since Motorola’s alliance with Carbonfund.org offsets the energy needed to make, distribute and use the phone. The Renew can come with up to 2GB of memory, and it has a 9-hour talk time so that the need to charge it regularly is reduced. Even the cardboard packaging is recyclable. And if you decide to recycle your old phone, the Renew comes with a postage-paid envelope that will help you send back your old phone at no cost to you.

Aside from talking, texting and listening to music, the phone doesn’t do much. But that’s probably a good thing. If people used their cell phones less, they’d use less energy keeping them charged and running, which is better for the planet.

On T-Mobile’s website, the Renew MSRP is $59.99, but it costs $9.99 after $50 “instant discount” (read: contract). It probably won’t replace the gadget-heavy, application-ridden cell phones that most people have come to know, love and be addicted to, but for everyday use, it’s a great green choice.

So if you have a T-Mobile account (or feel like getting one), be sure to pick one up. And then register your number with the Do Not Call registry, of course!