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It's An Easy Call to Recycle Old Cell Phones
New technology is coming out all the time and it's great to take advantage of it with a new and improved cell phone.  But what can you do with your old outdated phone?  Do you have drawers of old cell phones and power cords that you have no ideas what they go to?  The EPA says that less than 20% of cell phones are recycled each year because most people do not know where to recycle them.  Recellular, a wireless recycling company, says that one in three Americans will replace their cell phones this year, adding to the 500 million unused phones currently waiting to be discarded or recycled.  You can improve the environment by keeping your old phone out of a landfill.

What Makes It Green?

The EPA estimates that electronic waste is growing by 8% a year and some of these items can be hazardous materials.  If donated cell phones are usable, they can be refurbished and sold at a reduced price to wireless markets worldwide in need of affordable communication.  Those that can't be used are dismantled, shredded and smelted at metal refineries, where the various metals are "reclaimed" back to their natural state.  Either way, refurbished or reclaimed, recycled cell phones are not in landfills and that's good for the Earth.

What You Can Do
  • Recycle your outdated cell phones and chargers - it's easy! You can look for recycling programs for electronics in your area by checking on the EPA's website (www.epa.gov) or going to the site of the wireless industry's new program, WIreless...The New Recyclable (www.recyclewirelessphones.com).
  • There are also many non-profit organizations that donate the proceeds from recycled cell phones to charitable organizations.
  • ReCellular (www.recellular.com), Charitable Recycling (www.charitablerecycling.com) and GRC Wireless Recycling (www.grcrecycling.com) all buy recycled cell phones and let you choose the charity to donate the proceeds to. These and other companies can also help you set up a cell phone fundraiser for non-profits, schools, and community groups.

didyouknow
Recycling 1 million cell phones saves enough energy to power more than 19,000 US households with electricity for an entire year.


handson

I dropped a handful of old cell phone batteries off at my local AT&T store for recycling.  It couldn't have been easier!

 
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