Think about the following two questions:
1.    How many cell phones have you owned up to this point?
2.    How many cell phones do you think you will own in the future?
For a lot of people these numbers are fairly high. The lifespan of a new cell phone is actually fairly short these days and many of the old phones will end up at best sitting in someone’s junk drawer, or at worst end up in a landfill.
There are so many opportunities and so many reasons for an old cell phone to be recycled; however, there are so few people that actually will do it. When it comes time to buy your new phone or get your upgrade you need to consider helping out the environment and others through recycling of your phone. You could likely be helping someone that is in desperate need of a phone and can’t afford it get one of their own for emergencies.
In 1985 there were only about 500k cell phones in the United States. In just the short time leading up to 2006 there were over 233 million. So what happens to all of these cell phones after they’re replaced?

The Cell Phone Life Cycle

Possibility 1
1.    Raw materials are mined and processed
2.    The cell phone is manufactured
3.    The cell phone is used
4.    Owner is done and throws the phone away
5.    The cell phone ends up in either an incinerator or in a landfill
Potentially disastrous consequences we’ll talk about shortly. The next few possibilities are much better!
Possibility 2
1.    Raw materials are mined and processed
2.    The cell phone is manufactured
3.    The cell phone is used
4.    The owner recycles the cell phone
5.    The cell phone is re-used or refurbished
6.    The cell phone is used
Refurbished phones are likely sold to either smaller carriers, warranty programs, given to charity, or sent into the international market like Asia or Latin America.
Possibility 3
1.    Raw materials are mined and processed
2.    The cell phone is manufactured
3.    The cell phone is used
4.    The owner recycles the cell phone
5.    The cell phone is re-used or refurbished
6.    Components are broken down and the raw materials from the cell phone are recovered
Recovering raw materials actually makes the need to mine new metals much less likely.

The Trash Problem

The cell phones that are discarded will account for almost 65k tons of toxic waste each and every year. This problem is going to continue until something is done about the problem. So how much does 65k tons of toxic waste account for? Consider this, 65k tons of toxic waste is the equivalent of 3 small oil tanker ships.
With more than 500 million cell phones out of commission and many of them having ended up in a landfill these cell phones are continuously seeping toxic elements into the environment. Doesn’t sound so bad? These are some of those elements:
•    Arsenic – Disrupts nucleotide production and will cause other metabolic interferences, these can lead to organ failure and eventual death
•    Bromine – Toxic, causes burns
•    Cadmium – Softens the bones and leads to kidney failure, cadmium is a known carcinogen
•    Mercury – Causes delirium, hallucinations, tremors as well as loss of memory
•    Lead – Damages the nerve connections and causes both blood and brain disorders
Just one single discarded cell phone can pollute more than 34,000 gallons of water. With the average life of a cell phone now being less than 18 months this is putting more than 125 million phones into landfills each and every year. This is 2 million cell phones every single week. With less than 1% of the American public recycling their cell phones this trend is only going to continue to get worse.

Donating Saves the Environment and Lives

You can bring your cell phone in for recycling at your carrier location and any other store where a cell phone is sold. Almost all of these places have bins where you can just walk in, dump your cell phone into the bin, walk out.
There are also so many different charities out there that have their donation boxes all over the place and even accept a donation through the mail.
Before you donate your phone you can even go to http://www.recellular.com and get a phone eraser set of instructions and get your personal data completely erased before you donate, sell or recycle your phone.
Any working cell phone can call 911. This is something that makes even your older model cell phone a potentially lifesaving tool for someone like:
•    A senior citizen
•    Someone living alone
•    Domestic abuse victims
•    More
Don’t throw your cell phone out, instead donate or recycle it. Save the environment; save a life.

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Related posts:

1. Why Recycling Cell Phones is so Important for the Environment
2. Recycling Options for Old Cell Phones
3. Making a Difference, Recycling Your Old Cell Phone through Donation
4. Refurbished phones may be the ultimate “green” phones
5. 3 Easy Ways to Reduce the Environmental Impacts of Cell Phones
6. How can cell phones go Green?
7. Green Cell Phones, Friendly for the Environment
8. Boise State and Verizon Team Up On Mobile Phone Recycling For Domestic Violence Prevention
9. Refurbished Phones
10. What is a refurbished cell phone?

Tags: environtemtally friendly cell phones, Green Cell Phones, recycling cell phones

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 at 4:40 pm by Bryan Bradshaw and is filed under Cell Phones. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.