Can You Hear Me Now?

Speaking Up for the Environment and Getting Paid for It

By Bryce Cullinane 

            This is my second article on how to make a global impact on a local level. Last month I recommended that by purchasing clothes made in the United States, you can both help our economy and also discourage sweat shop labor in other nations. This month I want to talk about recycling your electronics, in particular, your cell phone.

            Recently, an article appeared in the New York Times Magazine that spoke about "The Afterlife of Cell Phones." You never really think about it, but when you throw a cell phone away, or anything for that matter, it usually ends up in a gigantic landfill. So not only are our things buried in the ground to potentially pollute the environment, but fresh resources are extracted from the earth to produce more products that we will eventually throw away.

            So how many cell phones do we toss to the can? According to the article, the average cell sees a dumpster after 12 months, and in the United States, four out of five people own a cell phone. That's a lot of phones shoved into the ground. For many, this is the inevitable end, but actually, cell phones can be recycled. A mobile phone not only has plastic that can be melted and remolded, but there are also bits of precious metals that can be reused.

            So how do you go about recycling your phone? Sounds like a hassle right?  Wrong. You can actually get money for your dilapidated mobile device. Simply type "recycle cell phones" into a Google search and multiple companies will pop up that offer money for your dead device. You may need to compare to see which company offers the most for your model, but in the end it is a simple process. So contrary to the "worthless cell" theory, you can actually get paid for something that you would have just thrown away.

Our landfills are stuffed with phones, but imagine what would happen if the millions of mobile devices thrown away each year were recycled? It would have a monumental impact upon the environment. Plastic, precious metals, acids and other substances would not only not be sitting in the ground polluting the environment, but these products would not need to be minded and extracted from the earth in such large quantities.

The planet holds a limited amount of resources. If we continue to just take, we are going to run out. So recycle your cell when it dies. Also, do some research about the other electronic appliances in your home that can be reused. In a quick search I discovered that many things from the microwave to the toaster can be melted and reused. By recycling your things, starting with cell phones, you can truly make a global impact on a local level.