Cell phone recycling

[Glen Miyashiro]

Got an old cell phone that you're not using any more? Don't throw it in the trash, send it back to be recycled! I just saw a news item that Motorola is accepting old cell phones from any manufacturer and offers a free pre-paid postage label that people can use to send the phones back to Motorola for recycling. What a good idea.

http://promo.motorola.com/recycle/ph...hyrecycle.html

[pzarquon]

Re: Cell phone recycling

Don't forget to also think local. I think a few groups here in Hawaii also accept old, working cellular phones, which are then refurbished and sold, with some proceeds going to benefit the needy or domestic violence victims.

Here's an October 2003 article in the Honolulu Advertiser about one drop point at Ward Centre (but I'm not sure if it's still there).

The mainland company ReCellular handles a lot of these arrangements, and you can search their website for nearby drop points. In Honolulu, for example, you can donate your phone at Sprint locations (680 Ala Moana Blvd., 1132 Bishop St. Suite 1105, 98-199 Kamehameha Highway Unit B4, and 98-1254 Kaahumanu Street) or through the March of Dimes (1451 South King Suite 504).

[Miulang]

Re: Cell phone recycling

And for those of you who change your cell phone covers often to match your mood, pretty soon you'll be able to feel a little better about it because scientists have figured out a way not only to make those covers biodegradable, but you will be able to have a sunflower grow out of it as it degrades!

Miulang

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/12/06/c...eut/index.html

[adrian]

Re: Cell phone recycling

And for those of you who change your cell phone covers often to match your mood, pretty soon you'll be able to feel a little better about it because scientists have figured out a way not only to make those covers biodegradable, but you will be able to have a sunflower grow out of it as it degrades!

Miulang

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/12/06/c...eut/index.html

They're making biodegradable cell phone covers, but they can't solve the world's hunger?

WHY????

[Eric]

Re: Cell phone recycling

They're making biodegradable cell phone covers, but they can't solve the world's hunger?

WHY????

See, now if they made those cell phone covers edible, then that would be a different story. Problem solved.

[Miulang]

Re: Cell phone recycling

They're making biodegradable cell phone covers, but they can't solve the world's hunger?

WHY????

It's all about politics, Adrian. Worldwide, there is enough food being grown; the problem is with the distributing of the food in an equitable manner and the kind of food being grown. There are also issues with what each culture will accept as food.

Also, many "have not" countries produce crops for export (because they can get more money for it) and don't produce food for their own people. That's why it's a good idea to buy as much as you can that's grown locally because it helps the farmers in your area and gets you much better quality food. The supermarkets are getting better about putting stickers on fresh produce to indicate country of origin. Whenever possible, I buy stuff in season because I know it's grown in this country and not imported from somewhere else.

In other words, I don't need to eat fresh strawberries in Dec. that came from South Africa.

Miulang

[Serenity]

Re: Cell phone recycling

You want to recycle your old cell phone(s)?

Why??

I wouldn't. I have an old nokia 5160 & 5165 cell phone,
whch I don't use any more, technically. I have found other
uses for them, instead of recycling them away. I use them
for an alarm clock to help me remind me of something I might have to do,
go somewhere, or have a special show I need to watch, like football,
perhaps. One other uses I have for it, is to wake me up in the mornings.
If anything else, I would go into the game section, & play games.
See what ideas I can have uses for them?. SO why recycle them at all?.
Maybe they can also be a toy cell phone for older kids who are not old enough to have a cell phone, yet. I am sure there many more uses for them,
I just can't think of any at the moment.

Happy Holidays, all.

[easTTriver]

Re: Cell phone recycling

They're making biodegradable cell phone covers, but they can't solve the world's hunger?

WHY????

solving world hunger means teaching other countries how to manufacture their own food. the US's farmers make so much grain, there is a cap on amount they can produce. the rest, they throw away. we could give them technology and current methodology to develop their own food sources.

we could solve world hunger if we wanted to, but why dont' we? because plain & simple, the starving world are comprised of 3rd world countries who are black.

[Serenity]

Re: Cell phone recycling

Simple Question....

How on earth did we go from Glen's post "Cell phone recycling" to
"world hunger" ?
Good topic, but......
How on earth are they any related at all?

[Glen Miyashiro]

Re: Cell phone recycling

I dunno. Ask Adri, he's the one who did it.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Cell phone recycling

I just heard from my sister in law who works for Verizon that pretty soon any cell phone that doesn't have that 911 GPS locator circuit won't be able to have it activated or reactivated. Thru attrition these kinds of phones will be rendered useless so it makes no sense to hang on to them as spares anymore.

I see these digital non 911 GPS phones for sale on Ebay. Better sell em fast before this word gets out.

I do like that idea of using an old cell phone as an alarm clock though.

[Serenity]

Re: Cell phone recycling

Thanks Craig, Glad you liked my idea.
btw- I also use it for an address book at home,
& keep people's phone numbers on it.
Not to say that I don't have it on my other one
that I actually use. I have it on both places, just incase that my hubby
needs to barrow mine, because he ran out of minutes.
While he has my cell phone, & I need to look up a phone # or 2,
I just need to look it up on my nokia 5165.

I figure, why recycle, when you can try to find ways to re use it.
The darn thing still works, just because you can't use it to call out
anymore.

Aloha & Happy Holidays.

[pzarquon]

Re: Cell phone recycling

With more and more cell phones doing more than just making calls, Serenity's "generic household gadget" model might be even more common. Keep that Tetris game phone in your desk drawer, that low-res digital camera phone in your car, that MP3 playing phone in your gym bag... I just got a Treo 650 smartphone, and while the phone and PDA combination is why I got it, the phone is only 10 percent of what the device does.

It's hard to imagine a brand new, expensive smartphone being abandoned in a garage somewhere, but I'm sure folks who paid $200 for those clunky old Nokias in the late 90s felt the same way at the time.

[craigwatanabe]

Re: Cell phone recycling

Heck I've been a cell phone user since 1984 when only car cell phones were around. I bought my first handheld cell phone in 1986 for $1300 (no annual plans yet in existance back then) it was a Diamond Tel 99x and there was no menu button. All functions were enabled thru it's own keyboard button! It was as small as most regular sized handhelds of today but talk time was limited to 30-minutes. Peak minutes cost $1.50 with off peak at $.75 no free minutes then either.

I remember when I would make a call or receive a call, people would gawk in amazement as to what I was doing. I had a friend who wouldn't believe that I was outside her house calling her. She literally had to look at me face to face while talking to her on the phone for her to believe it.

I think I'll use my old Qualcomm cell as a wake up alarm too because when the alarm goes off the whole thing lights up for me to see what time it is. And with rolling black outs here on the Big Island, a nice battery powered alarm comes in handy! What a great idea, thanks Serenity!!

[Serenity]

Re: Cell phone recycling

You are most definately welcome,Craig. Any time. I am glad that I can give people more ideas & ways to recycle at home than having to recycle it elewhere. I hate to see old cell phone go to waste, when you can actually still be able to use it in another way(s), you know?.

If anything else, you can always use it as a paperweight.

Happy Holidays, gang.