Recycling Mobile Phones And Various Options

Although consumers are being encouraged to recycle and reuse, I realized recently that the electronics industry and especially cell phone companies are responsible for encouraging consumers to accumulate a lot of old cell phones. Some estimate around 800 million of them are lying around unwanted in our homes!

It's easy enough to throw an old cell phone into the garbage, it doesn't look like much but some of the components release highly toxic chemicals into the environment. Imagine 800 million of them rotting away in the ground and you can understand what an environmental nightmare this could become. Toxic chemicals can leach into groundwater which then becomes our drinking water, complete with heavy metals.

It's not hard to find somewhere that recycles mobile phones. The first place to look is online to see if there are any local places where you can drop them off. Local charities are a good place to start. One gives them to the elderly and sets them up to be used in emergency and the recipient is encouraged to carry the phone at all times. If the person needs medical assistance then they simply call 911 and help is at hand.

Another charity works with battered wives. The women that receive these phones for free are often in danger from their ex-husbands or boyfriends, so again these phones are redesigned to be used in emergency situations. The good thing about donating old cell phones to charity is you can get rid of all those old cases and chargers too.

Many old cell phones are obsolete, you can't even give them away and you certainly can't sell them, but you can recycle older mobile phones with some of the big box electronics stores.

One company has come out with an ATM-type machine where you can take your old cell phone. The machine automatically clears the memory and pays you cash on the spot. Most of these machines are concentrated in California but the company is expanding across the country. The company then disposes of the phones in an ecologically-responsible way.

Some mobile phone companies are now including a recycling option right in the box in which you receive your new phone. Fill in a preprinted form and stick the prepaid label on the box and drop it in the mail, so now nobody should have a problem when they want to recycle their old mobile phone.

Learn more about Sell My Phone options and sell iPhone 3G 8GB ideas.

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The Most Common Cell Phone Service Options

Researching cell phone service providers is a lot like attending an insurance seminar or a mandatory staff meeting. You can pay attention for about five minutes before your eyes start to glaze over as the details and minutiae pile up like dead flies on a windowsill. Before you begin to explore the options available in your area, it helps to have a solid general overview of the basic types of mobile service plans that other consumers typically choose. Having a good understanding of the mobile carrier landscape will help you to make a more informed decision down the road.

The Major Carriers

For unlimited voice and text, high-speed downloads, and superior coverage and data, the major carriers like Verizon,AT&T, and Sprint are the way to go. They offer the best possible mobile experience, but they come with a catch. These mobile behemoths boast massive, labyrinthine bureaucracies and customer service systems that leave much to be desired. Major carriers are more likely to provide lackluster customer service because they assume that you're not aware of any alternatives.

Budget Wireless Resellers

An increasingly popular way to get cell phone service without breaking the bank is to use a regional reseller carrier. Companies like Cricket Wireless, Republic Wireless, and MetroPCS offer an alternative to the mobile heavyweights. Typically, these companies run their services on top of the wireless infrastructures of the bigger providers. They typically offer no-frills plans, stripping out extras to deliver basic unlimited service at a lower cost. The download speeds are often slower, but if that's not a huge sticking point then regional providers should do the trick just fine.

The WiFi Phone Option

For the extreme bargain hunter, there's always the option of using wireless Internet service to make calls. Thanks to VoIP applications like Skype and Ekiga, making calls over the Internet is actually quite reliable and painless. In order to do this, you'll need to buy an iPod Touch 4G, Samsung Galaxy Player, or any other WiFi music player that runs a mobile operating system. Then, just visit either the iTunes App Store or the Android Market and download the free Skype client. Now you can make calls anywhere for free as long as you're within range of a WiFi hotspot. You can even use Gmail's built-in Talk plugin to make free VoIP calls to any cell phone or land line in the continental United States and Canada.

In Conclusion

There's a broad spectrum of available options when it comes to getting decent mobile phone service regardless of where you live. You can save yourself a lot of money by being a smart shopper and learning how to track down the best deals. Hopefully, the information above will give you a good idea of how to begin. In any event, getting a good deal from a cell phone service provider isn't impossible if you play your cards right.

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