What to Do with Your Old Cell Phone

How often do you buy a new cell phone? With all the latest options to choose from (Smart Phones, iPhones, Blackberries, Treos, and more), 18 months with the same cell begins to feel like a long-term relationship. But when you fall in love with your new phone, what do you do with the old one? Cast it off like a spurned lover? Or tuck it away like a memory you can’t let go of, but don’t quite want to revisit?

Cast-off cell phones in the back of a drawer. Photo credit: Joe Hennager.

In the U.S. alone, we dump 100 million cellphones a year. In the 20 or so years that cell phones have been in wide use, an estimated half billion cell phones have gotten lost or been forgotten. Some collect dust on shelves, hide in drawers, hang out in cupboards, get lost in sofa cushions or abandoned in bars. That’s a lot of rejection. But it doesn’t have to be that way. When you’re ready to part ways with one cell and move on to the next, send your old on to a better life (or a dignified death). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends three options for what to do with used cell phones:

• Reuse. You don’t need to hang onto this broken relationship forever. But your rejected phone might be exactly what someone else is looking for. So let it go. Someone else will love it like you used to do.
• Refurbish. If you’re phone’s in great shape, turn it in to your provider and let them give it a makeover for resale. (Maybe even an extreme makeover.) They’ll dust it off, shine it up, replace a few parts, and off it will go to start life all over again cozying up to someone else’s ear.
• Recycle. Many battery recyclers also accept cell phones, PDAs, and chargers. (See Finding a Battery Recycler.) Like a lover scorned, that old cell of yours is pretty toxic inside; so handle with care. (See The Inside Scoop on Batteries and Safety Tips for Battery Recycling.)

What’s not okay is to trash your cell and leave a toxic legacy behind. So, recycle, already. Free yourself to start a new relationship without the baggage of the old one hanging on.

But first…

There are four steps to take before you give your cell phone away, turn it in, or send it to a recycler. These simple steps will ensure that you recycle only the phone, not the relationships you have stored within it.

1. Erase. To protect your contacts’ privacy, be sure to delete the names and numbers in your phone. If you have a SIM card, remove it completely to assure privacy.
2. Transfer and erase. If you want to keep photos or movie clips, transfer them from your cell or PDA to your computer or burn them on a DVD, then erase them from your phone.
3. Disconnect. Contact your service provider to make sure you disconnect service for your phone and, if you have it enabled, the Internet. You don’t want to risk getting charged for someone else’s calls or web surfing.
4. Give it all away. There’s more to a cell phone than just the phone. At minimum, you have a charger. You may also have a wireless headset, a carrying case, a box, and directions. Maybe you have a car charger, a travel charger, or colored phone skins to coordinate with your outfit of the day. If you’re donating your phone, the recipient will want all the pieces that go with it. If you’re recycling, ask what accessories the recycler will take, then look for other places to recycle the rest (e.g., instruction books get recycled with paper). Consider offering accessories on Freecycle; someone may want or need that Bluetooth headset or phone-specific power cord that you can’t wait to get rid of.

So, look around for any cast-off cell phones and accessories that may be hanging out at your house. Pass them on to someone who can use them, or send them off to be transformed into something useful through recycling. Then move on with a clear conscience, a cleaner house, and your new, favorite phone — at least for 18 months or so.

Part 1: What to Do with Your Old Cell Phone

Part 2: Donate Your Cell Phone

Julia Wasson

Blue Planet Green Living (Home Page)