50 Ways to Recycle Your Cell Phone
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 01.18.08
Photo credit: wasaby
TreeHugger has seen lots of ways to recycled your old cell phones, including ways to get some cash for your old phone and an option from TerraPass. With the average lifespan of a cell phone in this country at about 18 months (which adds up to 130 million entering the waste stream every year), there is certainly no shortage of supply for the old talkies; the guys at VoIP-News have done some digging and found 50 ways to recycle them all.
From earning cash back to helping others; perfect working condition to scrap parts only; drop it off or mail it in; manufacturer take-back to NGOs, there is a match in the list of 50 for whatever cell phone situation you find yourself in. While a lot of the options may be familiar to the conscientious electronics recycler, it's handy to have them all in one place. Find the right match for your drawerful at ::VoIP-News
Hi,
Great Blog, glad I found you guys, the world needs more of this!
Peace,
Ralph
http://www.beyondthemind.org/
A friend of mine works for one of the major carriers (networks) in the UK. He warned me about a scam that a lot of people fall for when 'recycling' their phone.
If you get offered money for an old phone, quite often the old phone is only used for it's IMEI number (the unique number identifying each phone on the cell network). The IMEI is then used to hack a stolen phone to be used illegally.
Of course the criminals don't care so your old phone is simply dumped, and never actually recycled, plus it helped criminal use stolen good.
When selling an old phone please be vigilant who you sell it to.
Great list. I've got a bag in my closet with 5 phones and need to donate or sell them.
Personally, I've had great success with cellforcash.com over the past two years and 4 phones. (I'm not connected with them, at all.)
They don't pay much, but do make the process easy with prepaid shipping boxes. Their recycling approach seems decent enough, at least on the surface, promising to maintain "100% accountability for materials - No landfills."
for you bay area (Los Altos and San Francisco), you can just drop them off at greencitizen.com and let them take care of the rest
Also, go to Second Rotation, who buys cell phones and other assorted electronics. Their site is easy to navigate. Check out their site for their prices.
Also, don't forget the website, Recycling for Breast Cancer, where cell phone donations and other assorted electronic equipment help the fight against this awful disease.
Anna www.green-talk.com
I totally forgot about BuyMYTronics too. They buy broken as well as used cell phones, iPods, iPhones, gaming devices, etc. I wrote about both Second Rotation and BuyMYtronics. The difference between the two is Second Rotation only pays for working cell phones and electronics whereas BuyMyTronics takes both.
Check both of them out. Anna www.green-talk.com
Another good idea is to buy pre-owned phones. by doing this, you can help reduce the amount of energy and resources used to create new ones as well as support cell phone recycling programs. My company, as well as a few others offer great deals on used electronics.
there are thousands of schools around the country that fundraise for phones. This not only gives back to your local community but teaches the younger generations the value of recycling and taking care of our environment
www.cartridgesforkids.com