Recycle your Cell Phone. It's an Easy Call

Recycle your cell phone. It's an easy call. Okay, we can't take credit for that fantastic little pun. It's actually the work of the EPA who have launched a new initiative to get more Americans to recycle their cell phones (and PDA's and cell phone batteries and other accessories). Here's the deal....while we all realize that our cell phone is the bloodline to our entire lives and feel deeply incapacitated if we forget it at home for even an hour (how did we ever survive before texting?!), most of us don't realize that there's a dangerously toxic side to your best pal, the cell, as well.

As the EPA explains: "Cell phones and accessories are made from valuable resources such as precious metals, copper, and plastics - all of which require energy to extract and manufacture. Recycling cell phones reduces greenhouse gas emissions, keeps valuable material out of landfills and incinerators, and conserves natural resources. Recycling just a million cell phones reduces greenhouse gas emissions equal to taking 1,368 cars off the road for a year." As of now over 80% of cell phones are NOT recycled properly, instead being trashed and ending up in landfills where they leach toxins into the air and water. However, If Americans recycled 100 million phones, we could save enough upstream energy to power more than 194,000 U.S. households for a year.

The good news? The EPA, along with 11 other companies (AT&T, Best Buy, LG Electronics, Motorola, Nokia, Office Depot, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Sprint, Staples, and T-Mobile), has started this nifty little program to make it super easy to recycle your cell phone. Here's how:

DROP IT OFF: Drop it off at any AT&T, Best Buy, Office Depot, Sony Ericsson, Sprint, Staples, T-Mobile or LG Electronics store. For more info about Drop-off Spots, click here.

You can also MAIL IT IN to various companies such as Nokia and Samsung who will recycle it for you. For more info on where to mail it, click here.

Yes, we're saying that recycling these phones is as easy as a 5 minute errand at Staples. So if you've decided 2008 is your year to trade up to the iPhone, don't leave your old BFF cold, alone and scarred as it lies rotting in a landfill. Your old phone did a lot for you, it was there for you when others weren't. It always listened to you... Now it's your turn to give back.