Recycling your Cell Phone for Charity or Cash

There are more than 100 million cell phones in the United States being thrown away each year, with cell phones being replaced every 18 months on average. Cell phones are made with precious metals and plastics that can be recycled and used to make new items for consumption.

Recycling Your Cell Phone for Charity

Instead of throwing your cell phone away, you can donate it to charity and get a tax deduction. Collect your old wireless cell phone, select a charity of your choice, and mail it in. Many of these charities give printing labels online so you don’t have to pay for shipping. By recycling your cell phone to nonprofit organizations, you are performing a service to both the environment as well as the charity you choose to support.

When donating your cell phone to a charity look for programs that accept all types of mobile phones regardless of age or condition. Avoid charities that seek only the more recent, high-end cell phones because their main goal could be to make a profit. Earth911.com is a good website to start. Many charities also partner with cell phone companies. AT&T has a recycling program where you can print a postage-paid label online to mail your phone or you can take your phone to a local AT&T store.

Recycling Your Cell Phone for Cash

There are several cell phone companies that will take you cell phone for money. Sellmymobile.com, grcrecycling.com and cellforcash.com are three of many. You can sell your iPhone or iPad to websites like Gazzelle.com. These companies make money from selling your phones, but they are also concerned at making an environmental impact. Cell phones have components that are toxic to landfills that they are being dumped by into the millions every year. If you would like to buy a used cellphone, there are websites like Recellular.com where you can buy a used phone and do your part in helping the environment.

Recycling mobile phones helps the environment by saving the energy required to produce them and by keeping reusable electronic parts out of landfills. Cell phones are made of silver, copper and plastics parts, which require power to manufacture. Recycling your cell phone allows manufacturers to use these elements to make new products or, depending on the phone’s condition, sell it to a new consumer.