How to Recycle a Cell Phone
Used cell phones are literally a dime a dozen. With technology moving forward at a rapid rate, something new comes out literally every day. Most of us like to stay in line with the new and improved versions of things. That means we change cell phones at an alarmingly rapid rate.
You may keep a cell phone for a year at best. Most of these phones aren't really outmoded and are still worth something. They can do the essentials like make phone calls and take photos, even if they aren't state-of-the-art data moving machines.
It's
estimated that more than 400 million unused cell phones lie around in homes and
littering landfills. Cell phones, like any other kind of electronic, don't
degrade well and can cause environmental damage.
The trick is to find something to do with them so that they aren't just lying around gathering dust, or polluting the soil and water.
Ways to Reuse Your Cell Phone
Multiple ways exist to use your cell phone or recycle it. There are three major methods of getting your cell phone into the hands of someone else who can use it.
Recycling Your Phone A common sense answer to keeping the phone from ending up in a landfill, recycling cell phones or parts of them is a good means of preventing them from damaging the earth around us.
Recycling your cell phone isn't as difficult as you might imagine. Companies today, in an effort to project a more environmentally friendly manufacturing style, or to actually live one, do accept their cell phones back.
Some of the companies who will take back their phones include the manufactures such as Nokia, Apple, Samsung, and even T-mobile. In addition, certain providers of cell phone services such as Alltel, Sprint, Verizon and several others have take-back programs that you can use.
You may either mail back the cell phone to the company or to avoid the postage and other shipping fees, you can visit most of their small kiosks or booths in major department stores and drop the phones off there.
Recycling is a very good option for the company since it gives them a constant influx of materials to use to make new cell phones from. It is mutually beneficial for client and company.
Donations to Charity Donating your used cell phone to charity may be another option for you. When you donate them, some companies will use them to sell to other companies for cash flow, while some will actually use them. One such company who uses the phones to help their volunteers to be able to communicate with each other is Phones for Africa.
Another great charity to donate your used cell phones to is Phones for Life. Phones for Life is a project that donates used cell phones to senior citizens which are 911 capable. While they don't have full featured service they are able to connect to 911. In the event that a senior citizen who lives alone has an accident they are able to use the phone to contact 911 from anywhere they might be.
In addition, cell phones are a lifesaving resource when donated to womens shelters. Battered or at-risk women are given cell phones which they may not otherwise be able to afford in an effort to help them stay safe. A donated cell phone could be a means to save someone's life when used by a victim to contact emergency services in a timely way.
You can find more information about cell phone recycling in the United States by visiting the websites of Recycling Alliance, Wireless Recycling, as well as Charitable Recycling.
Sell Your Phone While not one of the traditional methods, selling your used phones on Ebay or other auction sites will put some money for it into your bank account and give a phone to someone who might not be able to afford a full priced phone for their service.
Many parents today admit that they buy used cell phones to add minutes for their children. They are unwilling or unable to buy another full priced phone, but want to offer them for security for their kids as they walk to and from schools or bus stops. By offering your used phone for sale, you put it into someone's hands who needs it, and make back part of what you paid for the purchase.
Special Considerations Before You Sell or Donate
No matter what kind of electronics that you are selling, whether it's your cell phone or another variety, take care to be sure that there is nothing personally identifiable left on it. It's an unfortunate fact of life that no matter who you sell to or what charity you donate it to, leaving information on it about your bank accounts, address or friends emails is not a good idea.
If you're uncertain how to wipe your cell phone clean of personally identifiable information, contact the manufacturer or look into the phone manual to help you accomplish that prior to selling, recycling, or donating the phone.
Leaving your cell phones lying around or bleeding into the earth in a landfill is not the preferable method of disposing of them. Put them in the hands of someone who needs them, where they can continue to live out a useful life. Recycling your cell phone makes good sense.