Deciding to recycle or donate old cell phones makes eco-sense
With the attractive upgrades and offerings cell phone companies present on a regular basis, consumers don't keep phones for long.
What to do with an old cell phone? Recycling or donating them helps the environment by saving energy and keeping usable materials out of landfills.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, if Americans recycled the more than 100 million cell phones annually that are no longer used, we would save enough energy to power 18,500 homes for a year.
Whether you recycle your phone at your local recycling center or want to turn it in for future use, there are plenty of places that will accept your old phone.
Not only will others benefit from your donation, but you can, too, says Joella Jarchow of Troy. She gets a tax break and helps out an organization in need when she turns in her old phone. Jarchow and her husband donate old phones by dropping them off at municipal offices in Troy.
Staff at Troy's Community Affairs Department donate phones to community programs such as Pontiac-based HAVEN, an organization that helps abused women.
Verizon Wireless also offers a recycling service through their HopeLine program. The national program involves Verizon stores collecting no-longer-used wireless phones and accessories.
"Last year, Michiganians donated nearly 28,000 no-longer-used wireless phones to Verizon Wireless' HopeLine program," says Michelle Gilbert, public relations manager for Verizon Wireless in Michigan, Indiana and Kentucky.
In 2010, through its HopeLine program, Verizon Wireless awarded $108,700 in cash grants to domestic violence agencies across Michigan.
For those who want to trade-in early, Verizon gives them a gift card for their old phone's value. The card goes toward a new device, while the old phone is sold to a third party who refurbishes them. Many of those go to domestic-violence survivors. The phones that aren't used are recycled.
Gilbert says to be sure to "wipe" your phone (clearing it of all data that was put on the phone by the customer -- e-mail accounts, apps downloaded, photos, etc.) before turning it in. "It's very easy to wipe your phone yourself (review information that came with your phone when you purchased it) or Verizon can do it for you, but it's always best if you do it, too.
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With the attractive upgrades and offerings cell phone companies present on a regular basis, consumers don't keep phones for long. What to do with an old cell phone? Recycling or donating them helps the environment by saving
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Principal Jenny Marquart said, “We will donate the cell phones to Red Cross, and they will either recycle the cell phones so that victims who have lost their cell phones will be able to contact others for help or give the cell phones to an organization that will donate so much money to victims in exchange for one cell phone.
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