So, a whizz-bang, you-beaut, brand new and very expensive mobile phone model was unveiled this week with much fanfare. It made the news here in Australia and I've no doubt there will be a lot of people queuing up to get one when it becomes available. After all, it's the latest must-have ... isn't it?
All the brouhaha left me thinking though: What happens to all the superseded, unwanted, left-by-the-wayside, broken & discarded mobile phones out there? As coincidence would have it, I had good reason to find out during the week because my hand-me-down and decidedly not trendy mobile phone broke and repair was not an option.
According to this recent news editorial, Australians buy new mobile phones in their millions every year meaning there are more than a lot of discarded mobiles languishing somewhere. I can't even begin to fathom how many that would be worldwide! Given the plastics, metals and contaminants in all those phones, what is best to do with them?
When a mobile phone breaks and is beyond repair or when it's no longer useful (to anyone), it can be recycled. According to Planet Ark, up to 95% of the resources in a mobile phone can be recovered so it makes sense to recycle them. It's also really important that they don't end up in landfill because the harmful substances in them can leach into the environment.
In Australia, unwanted mobile phones can be sent in to Mobile Muster (or they can be dropped off at designated collection points) or they can be donated to organisations such as those listed here. These are great alternatives to letting an unwanted phone languish in a drawer or sending it to landfill. We packaged up my broken phone and an ancient one too (yep, it had been hidden away in a drawer) and sent them off to be recycled. Less junk all round!
If you have a mobile phone collecting dust at your place, and you want to recycle it, all you need to do is print off a mailing label, attach it to a padded envelope or bag, pop your old mobile in and send it off. You can also pick up a reply paid satchel, like the ones we used, at participating Australia Post branches. No postage required!
When a mobile phone breaks and is beyond repair or when it's no longer useful (to anyone), it can be recycled. According to Planet Ark, up to 95% of the resources in a mobile phone can be recovered so it makes sense to recycle them. It's also really important that they don't end up in landfill because the harmful substances in them can leach into the environment.
In Australia, unwanted mobile phones can be sent in to Mobile Muster (or they can be dropped off at designated collection points) or they can be donated to organisations such as those listed here. These are great alternatives to letting an unwanted phone languish in a drawer or sending it to landfill. We packaged up my broken phone and an ancient one too (yep, it had been hidden away in a drawer) and sent them off to be recycled. Less junk all round!
If you have a mobile phone collecting dust at your place, and you want to recycle it, all you need to do is print off a mailing label, attach it to a padded envelope or bag, pop your old mobile in and send it off. You can also pick up a reply paid satchel, like the ones we used, at participating Australia Post branches. No postage required!
As for my new mobile phone, I didn't go and pre-order that newfangled gadget and instead purchased a far less fashionable model within my limited budget. This was much to the consternation of the sales person who simply couldn't understand why I didn't want all the bells & whistles of more trendy models. I'm pretty sure he felt I was depriving myself of something. I knew this to be debt but I don't think he saw it that way!
Meg
Meg
I can't understand the fascination with the latest phones, Meg. It amuses me seeing people queue up to be first to buy one too. We have a few phones here that can't be used anymore because of the change in the network thingy that came in this year so they need to be sent away in a packet as soon as I pick one up.
ReplyDeleteYou should be able to get one of Mobile Muster's postage paid satchels at your local post office, Chel, provided they are a participating branch. Meg:)
DeleteI have the most basic little phone. I think we have enough contact and I like a break from it all. I don't understand the fascination in the newest, fanciest phones either. I remember taking it somewhere for a new battery and the man saying something like 'wow, haven't seen one like this for a while.' He was also surprised that I don't need to charge it that often either, Apparently the new ones need charging daily.
ReplyDeleteKylie
I think a lot depends on what the phone is needed for. My new phone is a smartphone and it has bigger "keys" for messaging ( = less frustration for me as I was always misspelling words in my messages). As I am far away from home most school days, I need a reliable phone and I can use the internet with this one while I'm away from home. I am very happy with the camera, it takes really clear pictures & I'm having fun experimenting with it. It cost me less than $300. Meg:)
DeleteI have always ended up with hubby's hand me down phones, not that he upgrades all the time, but when he has I get his old one, but just this year I bought my first phone. A friend was upgrading her phone...for the lastest greatest new model...and advertised hers for sale on FB. I could see value in an iPhone S for $300, it was in near new condition! So I bought it. It worked out so well because the old phone I had will be obsolete soon due to being incompatible with the new network! We keep all our old phones in a shoe box in the cupboard, they could well be antiques one day LOL
ReplyDeleteCheryl, up in the little country town closest to where Mum lives, there is an historical village. I love to go in there when I visit Mum and check out all the olden day memorabilia. It's fascinating to step back in time like that! You've got pieces of history in that shoe box of yours! Meg:)
DeleteHi Meg, I've had my same Jitterbug flip phone for several years. I finally bought my first mini iPad, used, for fifty dollars. I love it, and it works very well. I hope to keep it for many years. Glad to hear that you recycled your phone. We have those envelopes here at our post office in California, too.
ReplyDeleteIt's great when you can source devices secondhand or recycle them. In our area, there is a little local business where computers/laptops can be fixed or problems with them sorted and secondhand laptops can be purchased. Our current laptop, which is what we have here at home and that I'm using now, came secondhand from this business. It cost much less than a new one and works really well. Meg:)
DeleteMeg, is there anything you need to do to the mobile phones before sending them away? I mean do you need to remove any information - I suppose you would need to delete photos, calendar entries, notes and that sort of thing.
ReplyDeleteYes, Mobile Muster has a webpage that goes through straightforward steps for how to clear data from the phone. They also state that if the phone is broken, it can still be sent in because the data is destroyed during the recycling process. This is the link: http://www.mobilemuster.com.au/recycle-a-mobile/data-management/
DeleteMeg:)
Ah yes, I cant stand hearing people 'upgrading' their phones just because. Mine is a good 6 years old and has been repaired a few times, but its still going and does what I need it to. I even learnt a thing or two myself by you-tubing how to diy fix. Saved a good dollar there. Thanks for the links to mobile recycling, I do have a couple lying around here that hubby has dropped in the drink, I will send them off this week :)
ReplyDeleteI think the continual upgrading of devices, like mobile phones, contributes to the huge amount of waste created on our planet. When something is discarded, just because it is no longer trendy, our Earth's precious resources are wasted. Finding ways to re-purpose, reuse and, failing that, recycle is very important but probably more so is reducing consumption & that, I think, requires us to know the difference between wants and needs. Meg:)
DeleteI don't get it either Meg. Folks on a 'plan' get a new phone every two years!!! What a waste. I bought my perfectly good iphone from a friend who has a 'plan,' more than two years ago. I recently broke the screen, so took it to our local iphone repair man who works from his spare room. He told me it's still got another two years of value in it. That will make it seven years old before it needs retiring, and I certainly shall be sending it off for recycling.
ReplyDeleteIt's great when you can find local repair places where you can take things to be fixed and thus extend the "life" of them. In our area, there is a little local business that fixes problems with computers, repairs them and also sells secondhand laptops. I'm typing on one right now! Meg:)
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