Money For Mobiles: How To Cash In Whilst Protecting The Environment

We live in a ‘throw away’ society where nearly everything we buy can be discarded without even a moment’s thought.

Over the years, almost everyone will have been guilty of discarding paper and plastic packaging without ever considering recycling as an option. But with an increasing awareness of the environment and how human actions are affecting it, people are beginning to realise there are actions we can take to ensure the planet is healthy enough for future generations to live in.

But whilst little persuasion should be needed as to the prudence of recycling household waste as much as possible, there is an increasing concern that other household items such as televisions and old video recorders - items that aren’t so easy for consumers to recycle – are needlessly ending up in skips and landfill sites, even when there is very little wrong with them.

Indeed, many electrical items are so cheap to purchase these days that consumers often find it a lot easier to simply buy a new item rather than trying to source it second hand. This also means that their old items are worth a lot less, and so end up being discarded rather than reused. However, there is very little need to do this. Old computers, for example, can be donated to schools or local community groups, and there are charities that are able to accept electrical items and either sell them on, or arrange for them to be recycled.

This is particularly pertinent for mobile phones. Given that there is an estimated four billion mobile phone users on earth, many mobile phone handsets end up in landfill sites, which is a major problem considering a large proportion of mobile phones contain toxic chemicals.

As such, up to 80 per cent of the material in a mobile phone can be reused. And considering that mobile phone users have owned at least five phones on average in their lifetime, that is many billions of handsets that should be getting recycled rather than discarded.

The message does seem to be hitting home, and more and more people are beginning to realise how even the smallest of changes in attitude towards the environment can have a positive effect if everyone gets involved. And there is an increasing amount of initiatives now that are designed to help people minimise their waste.

There are mobile phone trade in schemes in place which are designed to encourage mobile phone recycling by compensating users when they upgrade to a more recent model. Their old handset can then be dispatched to developing markets in Africa or Asia, or they may even be used by insurance companies to help fulfil their mobile phone replacement policy.

So, whilst we do live in a disposable society, it seems we are taking steps towards rectifying our attitudes towards recycling. At a time when environmental issues are of paramount importance, such measures can’t come soon enough.