Only a Very Small Percentage of Retired Phones are Recycled
While the huge number of retired phones continues to grow and the demand for refurbished phones is accelerating, only a very small percentage of displaced phones are actually making it into the recycling channels.
Nokia estimates that 74 percent of people are not even aware that their old phones can be recycled and most others don’t know how or where to recycle them. From the results of a worldwide survey done in 2008 by Nokia, only three percent of displaced phones are being returned for recycling – even less than the four percent that are being thrown in landfills. The rest remain in our respective drawers at home.
So Where Can They be Recycled?
The first thing you should attempt to do is to clear your mobile phone of all data and get it back to its original state. If you still have the manual you can easily find how to do it. If you do not , you will have to scroll through the set-up and or mechanical menus to find the option to do this. Another method that I recently did to clear my Blackberry of data before selling it on eBay, was to search the internet via your favorite browser search engine with “erase data on XXXX” where XXXX is the manufacturer and model on your phone. This popped up a number of sites to assist me through the process. While also doing a search, key in “cell phone recycling” to get a list of places to either resell, donate or eco dispose of it.
This a small listing of many you will find if you search the Internet as mentioned above. Many of the large office supply chain stores also offer drop boxes as well as many of the cellular phone providers either at their retail locations or via programs on their websites. The bottom line is to get rid of the old ones cluttering your draw to save some space, make a few bucks or to donate to the less fortunate. Don’t delay do it today!
Mobile phone users probably don’t know it, but a charger left plugged into a wall wastes electricity – enough to power 24,000 homes for a year, or brew three to four million cups of coffee each day. The new AT&T ZERO Charger, available in May, does not waste power when left plugged in, and also improves charging efficiency when powering a device.
The AT&T ZERO Charger will also make life easier for customers, with a ‘block and cable’ design for maximum interchangeability, allowing them to use the same charger for future handsets and will, over time, cut the number of chargers produced, thus reducing future landfill waste.
The charger works by automatically sensing when a mobile phone is not plugged in to the charger thus cutting the power supply from the wall socket. The charger will be sold in packaging using 100% recycled paper as AT&T recently announced a transition to smaller and more eco-friendly packaging for the wireless device accessories sold in their stores. The change will eliminate more than 60 percent of the paper and more than 30 percent of the plastic previously used for their products. A big GREEN thumbs up for doing this!
The ZERO charger will be available starting in May at AT&T retail locations nationwide or at www.wireless.att.com. For more information on the ZERO charger, visit www.att.com/ZERO.
Yogen Universal Mobile-device Charger will charge your mobile device with only a few minutes of pull/release time. They have versions for iPods, iPhones, MP3 players, Cameras, Navigation GPS and many more devices. It is really good for travel, hiking, camping, loss of power emergencies, etc. Great to keep one in your car’s glove box or emergency kit. Yogen Charger
I recently came across this article that I thought would be of interest to you. It is not only a way to create less waste but many of these new chargers do not act as vampires of energy when they are plugged in and your phone is not attached. Little steps… Little steps… add up to big advances. Enjoy the reading… more yesteryear technologies soon to be posted.
One size fits all phone chargers on the way: ITU
FRANKFURT (Reuters) -
Ever forget your phone charger and no one around has the same kind of handset?
Have a drawer full of useless old phone chargers at home?
Breathe a sigh of relief.
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations’ telecom arm, said on Thursday it had given its stamp of approval “to an energy-efficient one-charger-fits-all new mobile phone solution.
“Every mobile phone user will benefit from the new Universal Charging Solution (UCS), which enables the same charger to be used for all future handsets, regardless of make and model,” the ITU said in a statement.
“Some manufacturers are already incorporating the UCS in their devices,” an ITU spokesman said.
The association hopes a universal charger will help reduce waste by cutting down on the number of chargers produced and then thrown away with the purchase of a new handset.
There are already more than 4 billion mobile phone subscriptions around the world.
In June, top mobile phone suppliers such as Nokia, Sony Ericsson and other industry majors agreed to back an EU-wide harmonization of phone chargers, which means phones compatible with standard charging devices are available in Europe from next year.
The EU estimates unwanted phone accessories account for thousands of tons of waste in Europe each year.
Now, if only they could come up with a single plug.
(Reporting by Nicola Leske, Editing by Michael Shields and Dan Lalor)
Try lowering the brightness or backlight of your screen of your cellphone.The vibrate mode uses a lot of power, disable it if not needed. Disable push email or constant email checking or set interval longer. Reduce the number of email accounts and or their frequency checked. Avoid using the cell camera’s flash. Turn off the Bluetooth, Wifi, GPS functions if you do not always use these features. Download applications and music on your home computer and synch to your cell phone. Disable background applications like Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
Additional Apple Tips
Apple’s iPhone section has a page with additional battery life tips. Some of the more useful ones are turning off notification, Push email, lowering screen brightness, turning off Wifi, location services, and Bluetooth. Turning off sounds made when unlocking and sending e-mail will also help battery life. Applications that constantly run, such as Facebook, Pandora, and Skype also drain the battery. OS 4 or newer users can turn off background tasks.
Mobile phone users probably don’t know it, but a charger left plugged into a wall wastes electricity – enough to power 24,000 homes for a year, or brew three to four million cups of coffee each day. The new AT&T ZERO Charger, available in May, does not waste power when left plugged in, and also improves charging efficiency when powering a device.
