CTIA is the International Association for the Wireless Telecommunications Industry, Dedicated to Expanding the Wireless Frontier
Friday, November 20, 2009

Celebrate National Cell Phone Recycling Week: Donate Your Used Devices

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, along with cell phone manufacturers, service providers and retailers have declared April 6th-April 12th to be “National Cell Phone Recycling Week.” 

If you attended International CTIA WIRELESS 2009®, you know we focused on green. We had recycling containers throughout the Convention Center encouraging attendees to drop off their used cell phones and accessories.  In addition, I hope you were able to watch the Honorable Al Gore on Friday when he spoke about the infinite possibilities wireless provides from healthcare to helping to solve the climate crisis.  He reminded all of us that we can be a part of the environmental solution.

We encourage you to take a few minutes to make a social and environmental difference by donating and recycling your cell phone. 

While lots of companies and organizations are accepting your donation, CTIA–The Wireless Foundation® supports Call To Protect®, a national philanthropic program aimed at combating domestic violence. Donated phones are refurbished and sold, or recycled. 100% of the net proceeds from the refurbished phones are used to make grants to national organizations working to end family violence. 

It's in There Somewhere!

I know it's in there somewhere .. buried underneath the notepads, and the phone books, and the carry-out menus... maybe even tucked away in the nightstand with all of those old newspaper and magazine articles that you really are going to read sometime. Yeah, right. I'm talking about that old cell phone. What do you do with it? Unfortunately, for many of us, the answer is---- "not much". So, there's no better time than Earth Day to remind you there's a responsible, safe, and environmentally-friendly way to dispose of them. All of the major wireless carriers in the country and many of the regional and local providers participate in the "Wireless- The New Recyclable (TM)" initiative. They have all pledged to provide consumers with reliable outlets for end-of-life wireless products, and that includes devices, batteries, and other accessories. You can take any of those products to any carrier store and they'll make sure they are appropriately handled--- all you have to do is dig them out from wherever you've stuck them and get them to the store. A number of carriers have recycling programs which benefit various charities and causes, and The Wireless Foundation has been a long-time supporter of groups helping domestic violence victims through its "Call to Protect®"  effort. Device manufacturers are also doing their part, producing devices that weigh about half as much as in recent years, and phasing out such materials as lead and cadmium. You can learn all about phone recycling at the "Wireless- The New Recyclable (TM)" web site-- take a few moments, and make sure to check out the tips such as terminating your service and erasing your device's memory. Now go home, and check your drawers. You might be surprised just what you find, and equally surprised at just how easy it is to do something responsible to get rid of it!