Cell Phone Pollution Solution
Most people don’t realize it, but cell phones are becoming a huge contribution to pollution on our planet right now. The average American gets a new mobile phone at least once every 18 to 24 months. That averages out to 34 phones during a lifetime if you purchased your first phone starting at the age of 18, staggeringly there are many kids who have them even younger.
As part of our throwaway society coupled with our voracious appetite for cell phone consumption and usage means that landfills are becoming clogged at an alarming rate with not only computers and other electronic components, but cell phones as not many people are aware of proper disposal procedures for them.
It is so sad, but every year we toss away more than 125 million cell phones which creates garbage weighing over 65,000 tons. Educating people that a landfill doesn’t have to be the place their cell phone go to retire, would greatly reduce this unnecessary yearly production of waste .
The reason why cell phone recycling is important is because they contain some pretty toxic stuff embedded inside their circuitry and displays, toxins such as Arsenic, Lead, and Copper, in addition to Cadmium, Mercury and Beryllium (a carcinogen which has been linked to cancer), hazardous chemicals you wouldnt want leaching into the environment. If disposed of correctly they contain non toxic materials that can be recycled and used again, yet instead we pollute the earth even more by trying to produce these components over again from scratch when in reality we already have the base materials we need without having to strip anymore from our limited natural resources.
Unfortunately, no landfill is 100% safe and it is the toxins that leach from these materials into the ground which pollutes our water table and our drinkable water supply. Currently less than 1% of the entire earths water is drinkable so we must take steps to protect it.
At the University of Northwest Indiana http://www.iun.edu/~environw/landfills.html, studies have been ongoing which show that in Indiana’s Northwestern sector alone, 82% of the landfills are experiencing leaks. That statistic is truly frightening since the effect of migration of methane gas and contaminants leaching into the atmosphere cannot be contained.
These leaking emissions can have devastating affects on the populations living in close proximity to a landfill. Some of the side affects have been low birth weight in newborns, heart and liver abnormalities, and shortened height stature. These statistics may have been obtained from the Northwest corner of Indiana, but they surely equate to the same problems for the rest of the country.
Our landfills are becoming so overrun with discarded electronics in our technology hungry society that unless we do something, we will run out of land to accommodate it all and the resources with which to make them.
Wants After Needs
Having the latest, greatest and coolest cell phone should not even be considered if your current cell phone is working just fine. Consider how you are contributing to the problems in our landfills and to the adverse affect on our environment before you go out and buy a new cell phone. Then consider a better way to spend your money.
Just because your old cell phone is no longer in sight after you toss it away, think about where it will end up and about the affects your action will have for a very long time - long after your memory of it having ever been yours, fades.
What Can I Do?
Wisely dispose of your unwanted cell phone. Each country internationally and each state domestically, have their own requirements. So do a little research and while you’re at it, check out where you can go to recycle or donate your phone instead of just tossing it.
There isn’t as yet a mandate on recycling cell phones, but there are many states that are implementing their own measures.
Some states have even gone so far as to require a recycling program for businesses in order to obtain a business license. It will be illegal to sell their products unless they have a recycling system in place.
Why not adopt your old cell phone out to another good home when you are through with it? You will be giving it a new lease on life and it won’t have to be resigned to laying in a landfill for years and years to come.
Victims of domestic violence are being helped out by www.wadt.org, a nonprofit organization which distributes donated cell phones. This is a worthy cause that really can use your help, so please donate your cell phone.
Is it Okay to Sell My Phone on Ebay or Craigslist?
Heres another fantastic one, there are actual businesses that will pay you up to $50 for your old cell phone, they make it extremely easy to arrange and will even pay for postage and handling.
Now that you know how to re-use or recycle your old cell phone, remember that these little things make a real difference in keeping our planet cleaner and healthier. Then remember to feel good in the knowledge that you are doing something in making that difference.