Be Smart and Recycle Your Old Smartphone

AUSTELL, Ga. - Jan. 26, 2014 - PRLog -- Be Smart & Recycle Your old Smartphone

Recycling and preserving the earth has been the plight of a countless array of organizations over the past 20 years. According to The Environmental Protection Agency “Nearly everything we do leaves behind some kind of waste…Households create ordinary garbage, while industrial and manufacturing processes create solid and hazardous waste”. Electronic Waste including the improper disposal of cellphones & smartphones has added to the growing problem.

For example a recent study from the EPA states that over 135 Million mobile phones per year are improperly disposed of, usually meeting the trash, while only 17 million were recycled or reused.[1] (http://#_ftn1)

The growing problem with throwing away cell phones after they are no longer in use, or after an upgrade is that they are usually sent to landfills where they release harmful waste.  According to a recent article written by SC Johnson “Cell phones contain such toxic materials as lead, cadmium, nickel, and/or lithium”[2] (http://#_ftn2) that leech out into both soil and drinking water when improperly disposed in landfills.

The problem with contamination of soil and drinking water has become increasingly apparent in some countries where clean drinking water is scarce and population growth is accelerated. Harmful waste material pose an immediate threat to both soil and drinking water supplies in the United States where population growth has tripled since the 1960’s and the need for clean water is an ever increasing demand.

In spite of the harmful potentially deadly waste cell phones produce when improperly disposed of, they can do a great deal of good when disposed of properly or recycled. Your old cell phone can be a source of quick cash with programs from organizations like Phone Rush Inc, who will give users cash for their old cell phone. Even cell phones that have been damaged has value, and users still receive cash even for damaged cellphones. The Phone Rush provides cell phone users alternate avenues to properly recycle cell phones by offering cash incentives. Since 2006, the phone rush is responsible for saving over 100,000 phones from landfills where they could have harmed drinking water supplies and soil.

Every year this organization strives to expand those efforts, inviting you to become a helpful part in a larger effort to fight pollution and preserve today’s earth from tomorrow’s future. Participation is easy, simply visit www.thephonerush.com , use the Contact Us tab, simply request a shipping label for free shipping, send us your old phone in the mail, to receive cash.

In addition to protection the environment via recycling your old device, there are organizations that separate and mine the different materials that could cause harm to the environment from your old phone. When improperly disposed of these materials that they mine are very hazardous to the environment. Because not all devices can be repaired or recycled, The Phone Rush will send them to these respective organization for melt down. According to WasteCare Protection, “Cell phones have valuable material inside such as plastics, gold, silver and platinum. The most valuable material is gold, which is used in the phone circuit boards. Chargers contain copper, which is less valuable but is still reusable”[3] (http://#_ftn3)

What if everyone recycled or received cash back for cell phones they would have otherwise thrown away? Drinking water supply and soil to grow food would be cleaner, and everyone could potentially add more than $500.00 into their own net worth over a 5 year period. Greater than monetary gain is our individual responsibility to leave the world we live in a better place for generations to come.

[1] (http://#_ftnref1) Electronics Waste Management in the United States Through 2009," U.S. EPA,May 2011,EPA 530-R-11-002

http://www.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/materials/ecycling/docs/fullbaselinereport2011.pdf

[2] (http://#_ftnref2) https://www.scjohnson.com/en/green-choices/Reduce-and-Recycle/Articles/Article-Details.aspx?date=12-02-15&title=Statistics-That-Will-Make-You-Want-To-Recycle-Your-Cell-Phone

[3] (http://#_ftnref3) http://www.wastecare.com/Articles/Cell_Phone_Recycling.htm