Going Green: Recycling phones can save animals, humans
By Suzanne Thompson, Special to Going Green
Published November 4, 2010
Old cell phones are useless to most people. But when recycled, they can make a difference for the environment, protect primate habitat and even save a life.
According to ECO-CELL (ECO-CELL.org), an organization dedicated to recycling cell phones, people on average change their cell phones every six months.
The group estimates that only 10 percent of the 1 billion phones in retirement are recycled.
From their computer chips to their batteries, all cell phone parts can be recycled.
Cell phones and their accessories contain hazardous materials, including lead, cadmium, copper and arsenic.
Recycling them keeps these dangerous elements out of the earth.
ECO-CELL has recycled more than half a million phones since its inception in 2004.
“It’s a free program. I pay for the shipping and everything,” said Eric Ronay, president of the Louisville-based nonprofit organization.
ECO-CELL works mainly with zoos around the country that collect cell phones and send them for recycling.
Locally, the Memphis Zoo has teamed up with ECO-CELL, according to Andy Kouba, director of conservation and research at the zoo.
Money raised from the recycling efforts is sent to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to protect gorillas and bonobos, a species of primate related to chimpanzees, at one time known as pygmy chimpanzees.
Memphis is one of the few zoos in the country that display bonobos, said Kouba.
Kouba said he wants to raise awareness about the program because so far the zoo has received only about 500 cell phones, mainly from docents and staff.
The public can drop phones off at the administrative offices near the zoo entrance. ECO-CELL provides everything to the zoo to help with collection and return of the phones.
“It’s kind of a turn-key operation,” he said. The collection box is returned periodically to ECO-CELL, where it is emptied and sent back to the zoo along with a small check, which the zoo donates to the conservation group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The hills in the Congo contain a black metallic ore, coltan, which is mined and used to make capacitors necessary for a wide range of electronic devices.
In 2000, when Sony launched its PlayStation 2, which required a large increase in capacitors, prices for coltan spiked from $49 a pound to $275 per pound, and mining efforts greatly accelerated in the Congolese hills.
The larger problem, Kouba said, is that many of the miners go into the forest and hunt and kill the great apes.
“Basically this fuels what we call the illegal bush meat trade,” Kouba said.
He said he is excited about the program and wants to raise awareness, so people will participate when they visit the zoo.
“If we could get out the message about this terrific program, the conservation that it’s doing, I think we could really increase the amount of funds we could raise for saving gorillas,” Kouba said.
The YWCA also accepts old cell phones and distributes them to women and men who are victims of domestic violence.
“We give them a cell phone and a charger and tell them to put it where an abuser won’t know where it is,” said Latoria Parker, director of development and public relations for the YWCA of Greater Memphis.
The YWCA started collecting the phones several years ago, but their donations have picked up a lot this year, in large part to a partnership with the Department of Corrections.
Parker said a representative from the DOC contacted her with an offer to donate cell phones that had been confiscated from inmates.
So far this year, the DOC has donated more than 150 cell phones to the YWCA, Parker said.
“We try to make sure that each victim who comes to us through any of our programs has a cell phone,” she said.
The phones do not come with a calling plan, but all can be used in case of emergency by pressing the SOS option or dialing 911.
Old cell phones can be dropped off at the YWCA’s office at 766 S. Highland. Parker said if a church, school or other group wants to conduct a drive to collect the phones, she would be glad to come and pick them up.
For more information about YWCA programs, visit memphisywca.org.
People who are not safe and need assistance can call the crisis line, 725-4277.
The YWCA operates an emergency shelter, which provides housing for up to 30 days for victims of domestic violence, a court advocacy program and a program for immigrants who are victims of domestic violence.
Case workers report calls from victims saying the phones saved their lives.
More information about living a greener life is at Going Green — the weekly digital environmental edition of The Commercial Appeal — at goinggreen.commercialappeal .com
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