cell phones

Eco-Connoisseurs: Go Mobile with the Samsung Reclaim

thegreenconnoisseur — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:45:36 -0400

Eco-conscious individuals will have an excellent choice for communications on August 16th, when the Samsung Reclaim is available for purchase. This brand new cell phone, brought to you by Sprint and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), features an eco-friendly design and will be available for less than $50! Follow the blog link at http://thegreenconnoisseur.com/ to see the full story

Let Apple Recycle Your Computers, iPods and Cell Phones -- for Free!

jplatt — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 08:00:00 -0500

Looking for a way to recycle your old electronics? Try Apple. They'll recycle your old computers, iPods and cell phones -- for free!

Computers -- In order to qualify, you need to buy a new Mac computer. But when you do, you can mail Apple your old computer and monitor, no matter who made it, for recycling. Good deal.

iPods -- Apple will take back any old iPod and recycle it responsibly. Just visit their site, enter in your name and address, and print out a postage-paid mailing label.(Sadly, they don't take any old MP3 player, just iPods.)

Cell Phones -- This is the easiest of all. It doesn't matter what kind of cell phone you have, or who made it. Apple will recycle it for you. Same process as above, just enter your name and address to print out a mailing label.

For iPods and cell phones, you can also request a free mailing envelope instead of printing a label yourself.

Three cheers to Apple for helping consumers to act responsibly when they dispose of their old devices!

A Blow to Cell Phone Recycling? Recycled Phones Found to Still Have Your Data

jplatt — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 09:00:00 -0500

Hundreds of thousands of new cell phones are sold every year. Most of them go to replace older phones, which can end up being donated, refurbished and resold, thereby keeping them out of landfills and extending their life cycles.

But now comes word that, in a study of 2,000 recycled phones, a shocking 99% of them still had some amount of private data stored in their memory. This even included personal data like passwords and private emails, according to Regenersis, the UK-based cell phone recycler, which conducted the random test on the phones it was recycling.

Now, if your cell phone is a golden oldie like mine, there's probably not a lot of data on it. But if you're been migrating to smarter phones, or if you use yours for any type of online services, this could be more of a problem in the long run.

There are a few steps you can do to help ensure that your data is safe when you donate or recycle your phone:

1. Remove the SIM card. (This contains a good chunk of your private data.)

2. Take the time to clear your memory of your contacts, bookmarks, photos and other data.

3. Reformat your cell phone yourself, wiping out all of the old data in the process.

4. Confirm that the company recycling your phone wipes out all data, and does it well. (I think it's important to note here that Regenersis does not seem to be one of those companies that wipes phones clean. They rely on the people doing the donating to do that, which is kind of weak.)

Here's an earlier post that offers more tips on recycling your old phones.

Greenpeace Ranks Nokia as Most Eco-Friendly Electronics Maker

jplatt — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 09:00:00 -0400

Greenpeace has once again updated its list of the electronics makers with the best (and worst) records of producing eco-friendly goods.

Greenpeace not only ranks companies by the materials they use in their devices, but also how easy their products are to recycle and how much the company does to encourage recycling. They also look at energy efficiency and other criteria.

This time around, Nokia has topped the list, thanks, Greenpeace says, to the company's "improved take-back practice in India."

Samsung took second place this time around, thanks to the energy-efficiency of its products. Fujitsu Siemens climbed a few places in the list after setting 2010 as its deadline to eliminate toxic PVC plastic and all BFRs from its computers and other products.

The manufacturer with the worst ranking? Once again, Nintendo earned that distinction for its high levels of toxic chemical use and the low recyclability of its products.

You can download the entire Greenpeace Guide to Greener Electronics here.

How to Recycle Your Old Cell Phone

jplatt — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:05:36 -0400

According to recent reports, there are more than 3 billion cell phone subscriptions worldwide. That's a lot of phones, and a lot of toxic waste when those little devices aren't disposed of properly. In the U.S. alone, less than 10% of old cell phone handsets are recycled, mostly because people don't know how to get rid of them.

So let's turn that trend around. Here are a number of quick and easy ways you can safely dispose of your old cell phones, which can help to keep tons of toxic chemicals out of our landfills:

1. Check with your retailer -- Many companies have buy-back or take-back programs when you buy a new cell phone to replace your old one. Check first, though, to make sure they will dispose of it in an environmentally responsible way.

2. Go to Best Buy or Staples -- These big-box retailers, like several other stores, have free or low-cost electronics recycling programs. Just bring your phone in and they'll do the rest.

3. Ask your local non-profits -- Many local organizations (like Lions and Rotary clubs) collect used cell phones and get a few dollars for every phone they collect. The phones get recycled or re-sold, and the funds the groups raise go back into their efforts in your local community. (Interested in starting a cell phone fund-raiser for your own non-profit? Here's one site than can help.)

4. Donate it to a national charity -- Quite a few national charities collect used cell phones, and also earn money just like the local groups above. Collective Good offers connections to dozens of national and international groups, including several environmental organizations.

5. Sell your old phone -- Just because it's old doesn't mean it won't still work for somoene else. Try cellforcash.com, which buys many makes and models.

6. Go online -- Here are a few more sites that will help you dispose of your phone with little or no cost to you:

http://www.recellular.com/recycling/

http://www.cellularchallenge.net/

http://recyclemycellphone.org/

http://www.eco-cell.org/

The Greenest Cellphone Company in America: CREDO

jplatt — Mon, 12 May 2008 12:00:00 -0400

How happy are you with your current wireless provider?

No matter how you answer that question, you might want to check out CREDO Mobile, the self-described "greenest phone company in America." While CREDO (formerly Working Assets Wireless) doesn't have coverage across 100% of the U.S., it does provide one of if not the most environmentally friendly alternatives out there, and the company runs itself in a greener manner than anyone else.

For one thing, CREDO donates 1% of your charges to "progressive" nonprofit groups, including such green causes as the Center for Biological Diversity, the Organic Farming Research Foundation and Greenpeace. CREDO and its parent company have donated $60 million since 1985, including more than $3.5 million just last year.

As a company, CREDO has also made some smart, green decisions. Their bills are printed on 100% post-consumer paper, and they have planted 2.5 million trees to offset their paper use. They buy carbon offsets from Carbonfund.org to offset both its company energy use and the cost of shipping its phones to customers. They have also committed to recycling old cell phones, and have collected 22,000 of them since 2002.

As for its customers, CREDO offers you a way to go greener. Right now, when you buy an LG 150 flip phone from them, they'll throw in a free Solio™ solar charger, which you can use to power your phone or just about any other portable device.

Think about all of that the next time you charge your cell phone -- or look at your bill!

Green Your Cell Phone in One Easy Step

jplatt — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0400

If you're anything like most cell-phone users, your phone is always on. It's always ready to take a call -- and always consuming power. And if your phone is anything like mine, that means it's probably also always in need of a recharge.

Now, it's great that cell phones are rechargeable -- could you imagine having to change the batteries every few days? -- but there's still a problem that makes them less green than they could be.

Your cell phone, you see, is a glutton. It doesn’t know when to stop sucking electricity from the wall. Oh, sure, the battery can only hold so much juice, but the charger keeps pulling power as long as it's plugged in. Your phone could fully charge in two hours, but if you leave it plugged in for four hours, you've used twice the amount of electricity that you needed to.

The best solution is to pay attention when you're recharging. Leave your phone out in the open and keep an eye out for that "charge complete" notice to flash across the screen. Then unplug it. (While it may be convenient, I'd recommend against letting a phone charge overnight. You won't be able to unplug it, and it could use hours worth of extra power.)

Need help remembering? Some phones (like these from Nokia) offer audible reminders to unplug a fully charged phone.

You could also switch to a solar charger (several are on the market), or even a wind-up charger. That's taking things even greener.

Even better, tech companies could get a move on and market more chargers that actually stop taking electricity when a device is fully charged. UK retailer Carphone Warehouse introduced such a device last year, but as far as I can tell, nothing like it is available in the U.S.

Until then, unplugging may be the environment's best friend.