GeekSugar

Website of the Day: Hope Phones

GeekSugar — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:26:35 -0700

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.

Hope Phones, however, lets you recycle that old phone and put it to good use (upcycling, you could call it). When you donate a cell phone to Hope Phones, the phone goes to a medical clinic in a developing country for their use. And they couldn't make it any easier; just click the red "donate" button and slip the phone into an envelope (they pay for the shipping).

Instant cell phone karma.

To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.

I know that this long list looks scary, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, it'll be a snap the second time around.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click the pink "Share" menu on the top left side of the page.
Choose "Blog" and "Regular Post."
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Click "Next."
Choose the audience for your story to "Website of the Day" in the dropdown menu.
Add keyword(s) (for example mine for this photo was "Website of the Day").
Change channel to "Technology and Gadgets."
Fill in tag field with relevant tags.
Click "I’m done" to submit content.

So join the Website of the Day group and share information about all your favorite sites! Yours just might end up on the geeksugar homepage!

LG Teams Up With BART to Encourage Cell Phone Recycling

GeekSugar — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:02:38 -0700

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. This way, a prepaid package will be delivered to your house so you can mail it away yourself and recycle your phone no matter where you live! Although I am hoping that the Ecomobilize bins pop up in subway stations across the country.

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Radio Shack Launches Gadget Recycling Program

GeekSugar — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:05:55 -0700

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

GeekSugar — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 06:02:01 -0700

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? Irresistible.

All Good Cell Phones Go to Heaven

GeekSugar — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 13:50:35 -0700

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.

The picture here is just the beginning in what I think looks like an overwhelming - and fascinating - process. Be sure to check all the pics out and maybe show your baby cell phone that yes, honey, there's an afterlife.

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Ask a Geek Girl: What Do I Do With My Old iPod?

GeekSugar — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 14:45:01 -0700

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. I'm asking around to see if any friends or family want it, but no one really is interested. I could just sell it on eBay for five or ten bucks, but I was really wondering if anyone knows of some sort of donation center.

To see my answer, just read more.

I'm glad you're asking about recycling your iPod, since you'd be surprised how many people just toss them in the trash and end up polluting the earth. Thankfully, I have a couple donation options for you. First off, Apple offers a free recycling program throughout all of their retail stores in the US. Just drop off your old iPod to your nearest Apple Store, and in addition to saving Mother Earth, you'll get a cool 10 percent off of your next iPod purchase.

If you want to donate your old player to charity, I'd check out RecyclingForCharities. Not only can you donate your iPod, but you can also send in your old computers, cell phones, printers, digital cameras, and PDA's to a charity of your choice. Just print out your shipping label and fill out your tax forms (since donating your electronics is tax deductible), and off they go!

Has anyone else donated your old electronics? Tell us what service you used in the comments below!

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Small Electronics and Battery Recycling Made Easy

GeekSugar — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 08:00:26 -0700

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 U.S. Postal Service is also jumping on board with their new pilot program called Mail Back. Mail Back allows customers to recycle small electronics and inkjet cartridges by mailing them free of charge. So far, there are 1,500 post offices across the U.S., which have free pre-paid envelopes for you to place your ink cartridges, digital cameras, or cell phones in. Electronics are then sent to a company called Clover Technologies Group that recycles, remanufactures and remarkets gadgets and has a zero waste to landfill policy. And what about batteries? According to Eco Chick, if you head on over to Call2Recycle, you can enter your location info to find a collection site closest to you!

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The Life Cycle of Cell Phones

GeekSugar — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 10:01:36 -0800

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

GeekSugar — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:06:22 -0800

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. With multiple mail-in and drop-off opportunities, the goal is to eliminate the need to create entirely new phones and therefore reduce the amount of hazardous waste like copper, nickel, antimony, and zinc leaching into landfills. Find out how you can get involved in this program.

What Do You Do With Your Old Gadgets?

GeekSugar — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:00:24 -0700

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. Because it's Earth Day, I will solemnly swear that I never will in the future, either. You should go for it, too - and even if you can't get to a recycling center, there's a ton of ways to recycle your old tech! But tell me, what do you do now with gadgets you're done with?
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