Recycling Cell Phones
Written by: Andy Cason
Photo Source: Gaetan Lee
According to an article written in the Washington Post, there are “estimated 65,000 metric tons of old cell phones U.S. consumers ditch every year”. This is an extraordinary amount of phones just sitting there taking up space. Not only is space wasted, cell phones contain toxic materials that can harm our environment and our health.
We all have two, three, maybe four cell phones in drawers, boxes, stuffed in closets that we no longer use. We all know that these phones can be recycled however we rarely do so. Why? Well, if you are like me you are busy and recycling your phones is just another thing to add to your list of a million things to do.
Let me make it simply for you to recycle your cell phone. Below is a list of ways to recycle your phones and free up space in your drawers, boxes and closets.
- Take your phone to your local retailer, Sprint, is a participating retailer; turn it in for credit towards the purchase of your new phone. Sprint then sends these phones to a company called eRecyclingCorps for recycling.
- Send your phone to, Recycle My Cell Phone/Collective Good and deduct the cost of mailing from your taxes.
- Donate your phone to a local charity. The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Phones For Life, The Recycling Alliance and Charitable Recycling.
Above are three easy ways to recycle your old cell phones and there are a dozen plus more ways too! It is easy, does not take much time and another way to ensure that our world is saved one step at a time.
If you need more ideas or have questions let me know and I will help you make our world a better place!
References:
Carew, Sinead. “Sprint, RadioShack ex-CEOs go into phone recycling.” The Washington Post 23 March 2010
Produced by Earthworks, Recycle My Cell Phone/Collective Good, Tucker, GA
Produced by Charityguide.org/volunteer/fifteen/cell-phone-recycling.
March 25th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
hi, andy,
not only is it better for the environment, it really helps out developing countries if you recycle your phone (most end up in developing co.s). google ‘iqbal qadir ted talk’ if you’re interested – i think it would be up your street!
jim
March 28th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
Good article. thank you
If you want read more about 2012 year and about end of the world predicted at this year, you can do this here
http://2012earth.net/stop_frighten.html
March 31st, 2010 at 1:45 pm
I am doing a bunch of reading about this and you’ve answered a few questions..
March 31st, 2010 at 10:53 pm
Great, I am glad I answered some of your questions. What has your research found?
May 20th, 2010 at 12:35 am
What is the latest and most expensive cellphones this year ?`~.