I read an article the other day that people spend more money on cell phones than they do on landlines. That’s not very hard to believe. Think about your own household. How much do you spend on cell phones and how much do you spend on landlines?
More than just the monthly or annual expense for phone service, think back over the past three to five years and ask yourself this question:
- How many home phone systems or telephones have I purchased in the past three to five years?
Then ask yourself this question:
- How many cell phones have I purchased in the past three to five years?
And the Answer Is?
I’d wager to bet that you purchased more cell phones than you did home phones. Heck, you’re probably still using the same old wireless phone system you purchased several years ago. Your cell phone, on the other hand, probably has the latest bells and whistles.
Now, while you’re interviewing yourself, ask yourself this question:
- What did I do with all of my old cell phones?
Hmmmm, anyone who has read more than one post on this blog knows where I’m heading. It’s all about recycling the cell phones.
What to do with Old Cell Phones
I’m going to share with you a few places where you could put your old cell phone to use:
How to Donate Your Old Cell Phone: This quick how-to lists three organizations that accept donated cell phones. It also offers instructions on how to erase the data from your cell phone.
Below are more organizations that accept old cell phones. The cell phones are recycled, refurbished or sold. The proceeds are used for a good cause.
Eco Cell – cell phone recycling
If these organizations don’t tickle your fancy, contact your State’s Department of Environmental Conservation or counterpart thereof.
For example, the state of New York offers sites for cell phone recycling or donation:
Chicago has the Chicago Recycling Coalition
QC Canada has Charitable Recycling Program
No matter where you live, you can find a charity that can put your old cell phone to good use.
Marching Orders
I’ve got my marching orders. Now all I have to do is raid my daughter’s toy chest to retrieve all of our old cell phones and start donating them to charities.
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Thanks EG and Tracy for the great tips!
Great ideas. Personally, we stopped using our cell phones (and land line) completely a few years ago now. They way I look at it, the more I need to pay to use the phone, the more I must work to have that phone.
Unfortunately, all too often, I used the phone to screen messages. Not only that, but it meant I never had a minute to myself because people could “always” get hold of me.
Once I figured that all out, it was very easy to drop that un-necessity. It was a bit of work to come to that realization, but when you think about it, cell phones are very new to us and we got along just fine without them just a decade ago.
We now use skype and that’s it. Cost- about $3 to $4 a month. Soon we will get a wifi phone to use it with and will no longer need to be tied to the computer when on the phone, but for now, the savings is worth that minor inconvenience.
Sorry about that, lol. Another option you may want to consider is using freecycle to get rid of those phones (or anything else for that matter). We just recently gave our old cells away through freecycle and freed up some drawer space ourselves.
Just for your info, Goodwill takes broken electronics for parts.