4 Ways to Give to Charity by Recycling Your Cell Phone

Photo: Robert Davies / Istock

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It's National Cell Phone Recycling Week, and you know what that means. It's time for more cell phone recycling tips.

Of course, awareness days, weeks and months are a dime a dozen. April, of course, is Earth Month -- but it's also National Oral Health Month, National Occupational Therapy Month, National Child Abuse Prevention Month, Stress Awareness Month, Alcohol Awareness Month and at least five other things. This week, in addition to being a week we are all solemnly focusing on recycling cell phones, is also a week to recognize arthritis and public health.

So the utility of special commemorative dates may be questionable; nevertheless, but we are going to use this Environmental Protection Agency promotion to encourage you to recycle your old cell phones and other handheld electronic devices. Only one in 10 cell phones is recycled each year, and that means valuable -- and toxic -- materials like copper, plastics and heavy metals are being burned in trash incinerators or buried in landfills. That means reusable materials are going to waste, and toxic materials are getting into our air and water. It also means extra energy is being expended to create new cell phones. According to the EPA, If Americans recycled the 100 million cell phones that are no longer being used, enough energy would be saved to power more than 18,500 homes for a year.

To help us recycle cell phones this week, the EPA has lined up several big name partners, including AT&T, Samsung, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless. Each will offer promotions, contests or giveaways, along with easy in-store or online recycling opportunities. In addition to those companies, other participants in the EPA's day-to-day cell phone recycling program include Best Buy, LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, Office Depot, Sony Ericsson and Staples. Find all a cell phone recycling location near you.

But maybe you feel like Motorola CEO Sanjay K. Jha's $104 million salary a tad over the top, and would rather see your recycled cell phone have a second life that benefits those somewhat less fortunate (No, we don't mean Verizon CEO Ivan G. Seidenberg's $19.9 million.) If you do, then try one of these four charitable cell phone donations:

• cellphonesforsoldiers.com
  Turn your old cell phone into a prepaid calling card that a member of the U.S. military overseas can use to reach family back home. The program works with Recellular.

• Wirelessrecycling
  A portion of the money generated by recycling your cell phone will go to a charity of your choice. Recellular partners with a number of charities, from the Good Deed Foundation to the Pet Animal Welfare Society.

• Collectivegood
  CollectiveGood operates similarly, offering a donation to one of a variety of organizations in exchange for your cell phone. Charities include the United Way, Friends of the Congo and the Best Friends Animal Society.

• Eco-cell
  Eco-cell partners exclusively with conservation organizations so that nonprofits benefit from the donation of your used cell phone. Plus, some of the workable phones are donated to hospitals in the Louisville Metro area so patients can make emergency calls.

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