Last updated April 12, 2019
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n the United States alone, there are approximately half a billion cell phones either in landfills or sitting in drawers gathering dust. Thankfully, more people are becoming aware of the toxic consequences of actually throwing away their cell phones, but in many cases that just means that people hang onto their old phones forever. These are not phones that people are still occasionally using; they are completely defunct phones, many no longer even operational that are almost literally good for nothing.
Many consumers may assume there is little reason not to just hang onto their phones since each one takes up very little space. However, each one represents a sizeable chunk of valuable natural resources that are best recycled and reused so that fresh supplies will not have to be mined from the earth.
A Growing Consciousness Towards Cell Phone Recycling
More consumers are beginning to realize that there is a better option than sticking an old phone in the bottom of a drawer. This brings up a new concern for some cell phone users, though. Most modern mobile handsets contain a great deal of personal information such as contact numbers, calendars, and perhaps even notes about friends and business colleagues. Consumers may feel skittish about recycling something with that much data in it.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t recycle; it means that you should be smart about how you do it. Google the model of your phone and find out how to clean personal information off the unit. In some cases, a specialized tool for just this will be available via a free download!