That old cell phone lying forgotten in a cupboard or drawer could help a worthy cause. U.S. carrier Verizon (News - Alert) Wireless is asking consumers to donate their old cell phones to the company’s HopeLine recycling program.
Phones donated to HopeLine are either recycled or refurbished depending on condition. Proceeds from sale of refurbished phones to provide financial support for organizations that work to help victims of domestic violence. The program also donates phones and airtime to non-profit advocacy agencies.
Verizon’s latest call for donations came at a time of year when many people are engaging in “spring cleaning,” straightening up their homes in preparation for the warmer months. In the process, they might find old phones they forgot about.
There are now about 256 million mobile phone users in the U.S., and because technology changes seem to occur at a breakneck speed, it’s not uncommon for old phones to get left laying around, forgotten.
“Because of the frequency
with which Americans upgrade their wireless phones, we know that there are millions of unused cell phones waiting to be donated to the HopeLine program,” said Tami Erwin, regional president for Verizon Wireless’ operations in Washington, Baltimore and Virginia, in a statement. “Our message is when you dust, don't forget to donate.”
By allowing Verizon to refurbish their old phones, consumers are not only helping a cause but also protecting the environment. Verizon collects rechargeable batteries for recycling as part of its Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC (News - Alert)) Call2Recycle program. The 4.5 million phones donated to HopeLine since 2001 have kept more than 200 tons of electronic waste and batteries out of landfills.
Used phones can be returned to any Verizon Wireless retail store. HopeLine collects phones and accessories from any wireless service, not just those originally obtained from Verizon.
Related News
- Verizon Reiterates Call to Recycle Wireless Phones
- Verizon Encourages Consumers to Recycle Old Wireless
- CellForCash.com Wants to Pay You to Recycle Your Old Cell Phones
- Verizon Wireless Reminds Customers About Three Rs of Being 'Green:' Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
- Verizon Wireless Recycles more than Four Million Wireless Phones
- Verizon Wireless Passes Four Million Phones Collected Through Its Hopeline Program
- Celebrate America Recycles Day by Recycling Cell Phones
- Recycled and Refurbished Mobile Phone Market Generating More Than One Kind of 'Green'
Don’t forget to check out TMCnet’s White Paper Library, which provides a selection of in-depth information on relevant topics affecting the IP Communications industry. The library offers white papers, case studies and other documents which are free to registered users. Today’s featured white paper is Level the Playing Field With Business VoIP, brought to you by Speakeasy (News - Alert)
Nitya Prashant is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Nitya’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Internet Protocol (IP) | X |
IP stands for Internet Protocol, a data-networking protocol developed throughout the 1980s. It is the established standard protocol for transmitting and receiving data
in packets over the Internet. I...more |
Frequency | X |
A cycle called a Hertz is the unit of frequency (event) of cycles per second.
Bits and cycles are often but not always the same. A bit is often a one but can be a zero.
Pulse and Hertz are related ...more |