About every two years, once my contract is up, I run out and get a new cell phone with all the latest and greatest features. The dilemma: What to do with that old phone? Back in the old days our office had a small cardboard box full of old cell phones, batteries, chargers and accessories. It was tucked high upon a shelf in a storage room and remained there until we finally brought it to recycling. Now it’s really easy to recycle your old cell phone and its accessories.

There are many options to dispose of your old cell phone. If it’s in good working condition it can be used by charitable organizations or it can be sold at a low cost to those in need. It can be recycled by the manufacturer or by a local recycling center such as Ecocyle here in Boulder.

Recycling cell phones helps the environment by saving energy and keeping usable materials out of landfills. Cell phones are made of precious metals and plastics-all of which require energy to mine and manufacture. Recycling conserves these materials so they can be turned into new products.

The first thing to do is ask your retailer if they’ll take your old phone. Some retailers will take them at their location and others want you to mail them in. Before you hand over your phone, make sure your service contract is up and that your phone’s data and SIM card have been removed so that your valuable information is no longer accessible. You can contact your service provider or phone manufacturer for instructions on how to do this. You can also use a data erasing tool such as ReCellular’s Cell Phone Data Eraser to remove the data.

The following retailers and cell phone manufacturers allow you to drop off your old cell phone, PDA, cell phone batteries, chargers, or other accessories at their locations. Call or stop in to find out more information about their drop-off and collection information.

• AT&T
• Best Buy
• LG Electronics
• Office Depot
• Sony Ericsson
• Sprint
• Staples
• T-Mobile
• Verizon

by Lynn Mareth, Vice President at Data Network Group.