Despite the abundance of companies now out there that recycle cell phones and other electronics, many people still don't know that their cell phone can be recycled. It can, and it should. Every year, over 100 million cell phones are thrown away, causing damage to our ecosystems. Discarded cell phones can leak lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, and other toxic substances, polluting the water supply and the air.
There are many companies that will recycle your old cell phone. They range from ones who will buy the phone from you for a few bucks, to ones that will donate to your chosen charity, and even one who will plant a tree for every cell phone donated.
From iRecyclePhones.com:
With American Forest’s and the public’s help, iRecyclePhones.com will plant trees throughout locations in need of environmental restoration, including areas damaged by wildfire and urban communities that lack green coverage.
There is no cost in sending the company your cell phone. You just print out their shipping label, which can be found on their site, attach it to the box with your phone in it, and mail it off; they pay the shipping costs.
Other companies that will recycle your cell phone include Cell For Cash, who will buy the phone from you, Recycling for Charities, who donates proceeds from your cell phones and other electronic devices to the charity of your choice, and Call to Protect, where proceeds from phones will go to help agencies that fight domestic violence and other phones will be refurbished and given to domestic violence survivors.
Some stores have donation boxes to drop your phones in, including Best Buy, and some of the online programs also have drop boxes that can be found through searches on their websites. There are many other cell phone recycling programs out there, these are just to give you an idea of what is available. If the programs listed here aren't suited for you, you might be able to find one that is on 50 Ways to Leave Your Cell Phone at VoIP News.
Remember to remove your information from your phone before recycling it. Cancel your service (unless you have switched it to a new phone), clear stored information such as your contacts, and take out your SIM card, if your phone has one.
Photo Source: Gaetan Lee via Creative Commons
29 Responses
1
Stefanie
May 9th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
David Tamayo »
Thank you! Yes, the program you are talking about is Cell Phones for Soldiers. There are so many options for recycling cell phones that can contribute to great causes that it is hard to decide which to choose!
2
David Tamayo
May 9th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Great post. I recall a group that was taking old but working condition cell phones and giving them to soldiers and soldiers families that did not have them in order to facilitate communication. Our environment is important and our responsibility. I have faved you on my technorati.
3
David Tamayo
May 9th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
Great. I will post an entry on my blog regarding this program. My site is http://securityforidiots.blogspot.com/
It should be up within the couple of days. Take care.
4
Windows Tips
May 11th, 2008 at 3:05 am
I think this is a great idea and have already sent two of my old phones for recycling through Tesco's. I like to do my bit and try to be eco-friendly as much as possible.
5
Kelleigh
May 12th, 2008 at 2:20 am
well that's something i didn't know. thanx for sharing!
6
Stefanie
May 12th, 2008 at 9:17 pm
Windows Tips »
I always like to hear of people doing things to help out, it makes me smile to know that not everyone in the world does nothing to help!
7
Stefanie
May 14th, 2008 at 10:37 pm
David Tamayo »
David, if you see this, let me know when the post is up so I can check it out! I will watch out for it, but I get so air-headed sometimes I might forget
Sorry about this comment taking so long, Somehow your most recent comment went into my Akismet spam!
8
David Tamayo
May 14th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
Yes I will. Things have been crazy lately. I did check out the site. I was hoping that they would have a button to install. I did not see one. Thanks and take care!
9
David Tamayo
May 19th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
I posted information about Cellphones For Soldiers on my site:
http://securityforidiots.blogspot.com/
You can see it on the sidebar under the heading titled "charities in focus" Sorry it took a while. Let me know what you think. Take care my friend.
10
Stefanie
May 20th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
David Tamayo said:
I don't know why Akismet keeps putting your comments into spam despite telling it not to... Ah well, it's up now
I sent you a message back on BC. I think it's great that you posted about it, and even better that you put it in the sidebar where it won't be pushed off the page
It always makes me happy to see people supporting good causes.
11
Jay Monds
May 27th, 2008 at 7:48 am
Mobile phone recycling is really a good idea and helps the environment. One should recycle old mobiles rather than just throwing away. According to latest figures, there is nearly 25 million of mobile phones lying dormant in UK.
12
Stefanie
May 27th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Jay Monds said:
It is very important, and other electronics can also be recycled.
13
Green Me: Healthy and Green by the Day
May 30th, 2008 at 11:08 am
[...] reminds you to Recycle Your Cell Phone, Plant a Tree posted at Focus Organic.com. One of the biggest green crimes of our day is tossing electronics! If [...]
14
John Marcus
August 16th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
It is a good idea to recycle your cell phone, but I wonder about the people throwing all these cell phones away. Frankly, I think they are too lazy to be reached with this message. Though it's worth trying.
Personally I have never thrown away a cell phone or recycled it. I tend to go with the "use for a long time, reuse, resell" strategy. I keep old cell phones for backup in case something happens to my new one. Or I give them away or sell on eBay. Since people tend to get new phones as soon as they are eligible to upgrade or switc carriers, I imagine a lot of these phones being thrown away are less than 2 years old and in working condition ( I have never had a cellphone break). Anything recently new that works could be sold on eBay or pawned. If people don't even want to be paid for their old phones it's going to be hard to convince them to care about recycling.
I guess one idea is to get cell phone providers do what the ink cartridge sellers do. Put a prepaid recycling envelope/box in every new phone. Then when people get a new one they can just tosss the old one in there and drop it by the post office. A charity should think of working on a ea like that with carriers/manufacturers.
15
Stefanie
August 18th, 2008 at 12:26 am
John, I understand your point about trying to convince people to recycle (or do anything eco-friendly, for that matter). A lot of people are stubborn and nothing I say is going to get them to change their minds, but I think it's better to try than say nothing. Maybe something I say will convince someone to do something good for the environment, and, even if it is only one person, it's worth it.
Your idea for packaging the phones with recycling envelopes is great! I might just write about that at some point (maybe a whole "Eco Suggestions for Businesses" type post, if I can think of more...)
16
Jim@toner, ink, recycle
September 13th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Now let’s talk about the planet.
Remember to recycle your ink and toner cartridges as well as your old cell phones. It takes 2 quarts of oil to make one new cartridge so recycle them so companies like mine can refill them and sell them again.
Never pay to recycle your cartridges make sure you use programs that also benefit the environment like ours http://www.thinkofgreen.com/websiteinfo.asp?fc=12, we plan trees in your name with the Arbor Day Foundation. We also donate 1% of your yearly purchases to an environmental charity of your choice.
So save the environment while saving money...
17
Jeremy
September 29th, 2008 at 1:27 pm
Excellent post. There are many cell phone recycling companies out there today. It is important to find one that is committed to a socially responsible zero landfill recycling policy. http://www.grcrecycling.com is one such company.
18
sameera
January 8th, 2009 at 12:50 am
its true that it is becoming a huge problem. If we do not take an action as soon as possible, planet will be a miserable place for all the creatures including humans.
19
Scrap Mobile
February 5th, 2009 at 5:52 am
Scrap cellphone recycling is a big business in developing countries. Countries like India and China import loads of scrap mobile phones which are dismantled and recycled for precious metals and ABS.
There are several want offers for scrap mobile phones here.
http://www.recycleinme.com/search/buyoffers__mobile.aspx
20
speaker phone cell phone
February 14th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
i will definitely make sure my cell phone gets recycled once it becomes unfunctional.i have a feeling that we will have to pay a large amount if we dont act now.our surroundings are definitely getting damaged everyday.People like you motivate people like me to take action.thanks a lot
21
Blogroll - 02/23/2009 | Green + Chic
February 23rd, 2009 at 2:01 pm
[...] Recycle your Cell Phone - Plant a Tree Focus Organic gives us a resource to not only recycle your old cell phone, but also help plant trees in much needed areas. [...]
22
Katrina Hilm
April 30th, 2009 at 8:28 am
Great article. Around our area we collect cell phones and give them to the poor. They can use the 911 for emergencies, but nothing more will work on them.
23
Vanessa
June 4th, 2009 at 2:51 am
Wow..
I haven't heard about recycling phones.
I have two junk cellphones and i don't wanna throw it cos that was my very first cellphones. I just kept it into my Treasure Box.
Now i'll start collecting junk Mobile phones and recycle it...
That's Great!
24
car pictures
June 10th, 2009 at 8:53 am
in the future mobile phones may be the biggest e waste. therefore this recycling program is very valuable
25
prepaid services
June 30th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Great Article. We are all beginning to learn the daily effect that the materials we throw away have effects on the environment around us. That is why it is so important that we conserve and recycle all resources whenever possible.
26
Patrick Hebert
July 16th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
I'm glad to see there are other projects doing the same thing as I'm trying to do.
My project is called CellCycle.ca and is located in Barrie, Ontario Canada and I'm doing something very similar to iRecyclePhones but for Canadians. For each cell phone my project collects I plant a tree in a public park here in Barrie.
To make it easier for the public to participate I've set up bins at various large retailers and grocery stores throughout my community.
Thanks for spreading the word about great initiatives like iRecyclePhones!
27
Scrap Metal
August 8th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I think that it is great that companies are stepping up to recycle cell phones which can be very hazardous to the environment. Cell phone makers and service companies should play a more active roll in recycling programs also.
28
SAS Telecom
August 27th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
It's amazing how many people could be recycling their cellphones but aren't. A lot of people buy several new phones per year, if everyone recycled their phone we could make a huge impact.
29
Recycle Ink Cartridges
September 3rd, 2009 at 2:17 pm
Not only cell phones, but can you imagine all of the printer ink cartridges that consumers use and toss away? Pretty much everyone that I can think of has a printer in there household, and most printers use 2 or more cartridges.