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Cell Phone Recycling
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Recycling your cell phone is definitely great, but it can be a little anticlimactic. Send the old phone off to the recycling center, feel good about self and earth, but then it's over. No tangible karmic payoff.
LG Teams Up With BART to Encourage Cell Phone Recycling
This past weekend as I exited the Embarcadero train station here in San Francisco, I noticed this ginormous cell phone recycling station. Upon further inspection (and research), I realized that LG has put up these Ecomobilize cell phone recycling bins in BART stations across the Bay Area to help combat the estimated 130 cell phones that will end up in US landfills this year.
I've already provided some simple ways to go green, but LG is making it really easy with their ecoMobilization movement because you can either drop off your phone, chargers, or accessories at one of these boxes, or text the word ECO to 57895 and reply to the text with your mailing addy.
Radio Shack Launches Gadget Recycling Program
I recently discussed two easy ways to recycle your printer cartridges, but what about all of your other gadgets? By the sounds of it, Radio Shack has a pretty sweet new green trade-in program where they will take your old gadgets — whether it's a camera, MP3 player, gaming console, cell phone, or something else — determine the value of your products, then give you a Radio Shack gift card. It'll be interesting to hear how much people are given for their gadget goods.
Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes Push Cell Phone Recycling
Via their upcoming film The Spirit, stars Scarlett Johansson and Eva Mendes have teamed up with the Environmental Media Association to promote the importance of cell phone recycling to reduce CO2 emissions.
The spots start running today on the Answer the Call website, with the ladies in character as Sand Saref and Silken Floss, respectively. I was already a big proponent of cell phone recycling, but glamming it up with two of the hottest celebrities ever?
All Good Cell Phones Go to Heaven
Upgrading your cell phone is something of a mild obsession around here, and with upgrading comes the inevitable question of what to do with an old cell phone.
Half a billion (!) cell phones were replaced in 2007 alone, with many of them going to recycling centers, but what happens once they get there? Technology Review has a beautiful photo essay depicting ReCellular, the country's largest cell phone recycling center.
Ask a Geek Girl: What Do I Do With My Old iPod?
For this installment of Ask a Geek Girl, TeamSugar user amers230 asks what she should do with her old iPod, now that she's received the new iPod of her dreams:
As a special surprise for my birthday my parents bought me the new iPod I've wanted for forever. Now that I have my 80GB Classic, I have no use for my 3-year-old 20GB. Thing is, I'm not sure what to do with it now.
Small Electronics and Battery Recycling Made Easy
I love the fact that gadget recycling is getting a whole lot easier. Last week I talked about the nifty Cell Phones for Soldiers bags that are now being included with Amazon orders. With these pre-paid bags, you can ship off your old phone to Recellular, a company that pays Cell Phones for Soldiers for each donated phone.
The Life Cycle of Cell Phones
Considering I have at least six old cell phones, this video by The Secret Life Series really got me thinking about the impact of cell phones on our environment and what can be done to minimize the dangerous amounts of e-waste. Featured on treehugger, "The Secret Life of Cell Phones" discusses the shocking statistics associated with cell phones, the dumping of nonworking electronics to China and Nigeria and the continual efforts in raising awareness about cell phone recycling programs. Lets hope with the EPA's new cell phone recycling program the estimated 150 million phones, which are said to be discarded this year will be recycled or reborn through cell phone donation.
Reducing the Ecological Impact From Cell Phones
I can't seem to not feel guilty when I throw out a banana peel, let alone a cell phone — which is probably why I have six old cell phones hiding in my closet! Thankfully the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has just announced a cell-phone recycling program partnership with popular service providers, retailers, and device makers like LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson.
According to Inhabitant, the EPA is hoping that the 130 million cell phones that will be thrown away this year will be recycled or reborn through cell-phone donation.
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What Do You Do With Your Old Gadgets?
The wild world of tech moves fast — too fast for some of us — and we're either faced with feverishly upgrading, or being the butt of the slow-moving gadget joke among friends (sample: "Zach Morris called, and he wants his cell phone back.")
But we must eventually upgrade most of our tech, whether it's for speed and capability, a government mandate, or a new hot phone you can't live without. I've recycled cell phones, given my old desktop to a younger sibling, sold TVs on Craigslist, and dropped VCRs off at thrift stores. Any way you can recycle a gadget, I've done it — but I have not thrown a gadget in the dumpster in years and years.
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