Unknown.
READ MORE ABOUT:
Got a shiny new wireless phone or PDA from Saint Nick's loot sack this holiday? Keep your castoff out of the landfill, where millions of U.S. cell phones end up each year. You might even rake in some dough or make a positive impact in the process. (Just remember to wipe it clean of your personal data, first.) Besides locating a mobile recycler in your neighborhood via Earth911.org, here are some of your options:
1. Donate it to victims of domestic violence: Verizon's HopeLine program accepts wireless phones and equipment, regardless of condition or service provider. With funds raised from the sale of refurbished phones, Verizon donates wireless phones, airtime, and funding to nonprofit domestic violence shelters and prevention programs across the nation.
2. Trade it in for carbon offsets: RipMobile is willing to dole out top dollar for in the form of gift certificates you can redeem for carbon-offset credits from TerraPass. Have an old Motorola Razr V3 gathering dust? It's worth $21, which is enough to offset almost 6,000 lbs of carbon dioxide emissions.3. Sell your cell phone: Get your moola straight up at Cell for Cash, which will pay big bucks for your unwanted talkie. The Palm TREO 700w you have socked away in a drawer, for instance, is worth $65 in the bank. The company will even send you a free postage-paid box.
4. Help out a soldier serving abroad: Thirteen-year-old Brittany Bergquist and her 12-year-old brother, Robbie, launched Cell Phones for Soldiers in 2004 to provide as many overseas soldiers as possible with prepaid calling cards, which the siblings purchase with funds raised from recycling used mobiles.
5. Save gorillas in the Congo: Cell phones contain coltan, a mineral extracted in the forests of central Africa, home to the world's endangered lowland gorillas. Not only has coltan mining dramatically reduced the gorillas' habitat, but it has also resulted in the widespread slaughter of great apes for the illegal bush-meat trade. Eco-Cell collects old cell phones at 46 American zoos. (You can also request a free shipping label.) Proceeds from phone sales go to supporting myriad zoos and conservation groups, including the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
Difficulty level: Easy
-
- {}
