Because of the space these phones require in landfills and the harm their components can do to the environment, many states are beginning to enact requirements on cell phone recycling. Retailers in these states are required, by law, to take outdated, broken or otherwise unused cell phones from consumers at no charge.

We know what you’re asking…

“How does recycling cell phones help the environment?”

Copper
One ton of cellular phones can provide close to 100Kg of copper and that amount of copper is more than can be pulled from an equal amount of its own ore. By recycling these devices for copper, we reduce the impact of copper mining on the environment.

Green House Gases
No matter what a factory produces, as long as it is producing, it is releasing green house gases into the atmosphere. By recycling used cell phones, using them for parts or even donating them to shelters, we reduce the need to produce more new phones.

Lead
Lead that is leached into our groundwater supply has been shown to cause problems with the liver, kidneys and other vital organs. By recycling our used mobile phones, we are safely reusing or removing the lead components from our environment.

Plastic
Once recycled, the plastic casings of cell phones are used to make park decks, playground equipment and even saxophones. In fact, every single component found inside of a cell phone can be recycled. Just imagine if all of the cell phones that are discarded each year would be recycled instead!

What else can you do with your old cell phones?

There are many organizations will take cell phones and either recycle them to raise money or give them to people in need. Some of these organizations are:

Cell Phones for Soldiers: this organization will accept your used cell phones and convert them into calling cards, prepaid of course, for soldiers overseas. In the three years the program has been running, over 12 million minutes have been given to these men and women.
http://www.cellphonesforsoldiers.com/

Shelter Alliance: this organization runs the largest mobile phone donation program in the country. Collection programs are available for students, businesses, organizations and individuals.
http://shelteralliance.net/

Collective Good: this organization makes it worthwhile to donate your cell phone. Different incentives are offered throughout the year and have included $5 gift cards for every phone donated.

Before you toss your outdated cell phone in the garbage, find out if your company takes used cell phones for some type of recycling program. If your office doesn’t, check with your child’s school. If you can’t easily recycle your phone, consider donating it to a charity; there’s always someone who will be more than happy to have it.

Author Stephanie Sanders is a communications consultant and writes for a UK mobile phones site, offering all the latest phones and plans.

A large handful of students were seen grinning about Columbian Square on October Twentieth with Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Former President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, model Christy Turlington Burns and Juju Chang, journalist. They were all in attendance to host the George Washington University “GW + Phones=Hope” celebration to kickoff the GW Phones for Hope campaign.

George Washington University - Phones for Hope

The Phones for Hope campaign is supported by the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) created by Former President Bill Clinton and Doug Band, who through this program hopes to bring about changes around the world through actions that are measurable. The purpose of Phones for Hope is to recycle old electronics and phones that aid maternal health programs located in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nepal by recycling them or by converting them into mobile medical communication devices.

As stated by Christy Turlington Burns, supporter for the campaign,

“The best way to address child survival is to invest in a mom”

and by March of 2012, GW strives to make an investment by way of approximately 20,000 used cell phones.

The CGI is comprised of a large group of corporate businesses, non-profits and organizations who even though they come from assorted industries, they have the same common goal in mind. This powerful group would like to bring about change to the world’s problems dealing with poverty, education and climate change. CGI requests that its members start assisting the world by participating in “Commitments to Action”. Of course, sustainability is a key ingredient to their core. Phones for hope bases it’s actions around the principles of viability (along with good will), and does an excellent job of presenting to its subscribers the important of our future.

Check out the following video for more campaign info;

As we know it, finding long-term solutions to any of the issues addressed by the CGI is extremely important. Turlington and Clinton demonstrate their interest in renewal and recyclables by aiding in the early development of children in Africa. The CGI continues to do great work in similar areas, and their predecessor (CHAI or Clinton Health Access Initiative) provides supplemental help as well.

Through prodigious campaigns like these, that bolster positives changes around the world, like GW’s Phones for Hope, we will all see the benefits from individual and groups who are committed to making a difference. The Phones for Hope program not only benefits the United States, by supplying a secure way to recycle phones and other electronics but the greatest of all impacts will be reached in areas across the seas like Africa and Nepal where families can have a chance at survival because they now have access to healthcare for mothers and children.

Eco Rubber Mulch

The traditional playgrounds of old were built on grass, blacktop, or wood chips. The newer rubber mulch is made of waste tire buffing or whole tires that are ground up into either nuggets or shavings. Virtually any tires can be used to produce rubber mulch. The process of recycling the tires saves an enormous amount of space in landfills. It has also taken the place of wood chips, dramatically cutting down the amount of forests that are destroyed in order to supply wood chip flooring.

The biggest proof of the benefit rubber mulch has on the environment is the endorsement it has received from the Environmental Protection Agency. In August through October 2008, the EPA conducted a study that sampled the air and surface at four playgrounds that used the derivatives of rubber tires. The conclusion was that the concentration of materials used in rubber mulch was below a level considered harmful, and that it could safely be used in playgrounds or any appropriate area. Other studies by reputable organizations came to the same conclusion: rubber mulch is a safe and eco-friendly flooring alternative.

The naysayers have very little to go with, arguing that the mulch may leach chemicals to plants, and that it is a hazard to playground safety if ignited. However, wood chips are also flammable. As to the reasonable objection that rubber chips are more expensive than other flooring choices, rubber mulch requires virtually no maintenance, and can last for years. It quickly pays for itself.

The benefits of rubber flooring easily outweigh the cons. From a landscaping and gardening viewpoint, rubber mulch insulates soil from heat by two or three degrees more than wood chips. As rubber is not porous, rain water flows more easily to plant roots, as opposed to wood chips, which absorb some of the water along the way. Its high shock absorbance also makes playgrounds safer for children, reducing the amount and severity of injury from falls. In the same vein, rubber mulch is a safer choice for horse arenas, where it is mixed with sand.

The growing use of rubber mulch is helping to reduce the carbon imprint as tires are recycled, rather than thrown into landfills. The options it opens are expansive, as manufacturers race to experiment with more ways in which rubber mulch can be used, thereby opening up a brighter vision for tomorrow’s generation.

Bio: Fay Rose is a go green activist who is interested in anything green and child related. She recommends rubber mulch for personal and commercial playgrounds.

1. Bird Feeder

Turn big plastic bottles and glass jars into bird feeders. Simply turn your glass jar upside down and fasten a drop tray underneath that will allow your feathered friends to comfortably sit and eat. Using string or wire run from the drop tray on both sides of the jar and held in place with rubber bands or string you will have a loop to tie your feeder to the tree. Plastic bottles are easy. Just melt small holes inward for feeding and make sure to run a bird seat (wooden, plastic or steel pole) horizontally through the bottle near the feeding holes. Tie string around the top and hang.

2. Pen Holder

Take old tea tins or bottles and using clear packing tape, create a collage to your liking for yourself or for gifts. I like drawing my own pictures and taping them around the tins. You can also use photos. Also, try classing up a clear pen jar by filling it with coffee beans, pebbles or marbles.

3. Grain Storage Containers

Using glass jars, remove all labels using Pledge. Let it sit for a few minutes before scrubbing it off. Fill with rice varieties, cereals or dried soups. It makes a colorful and artsy way to store your dry goods in an airtight container. I like to hang tags from the top describing the contents.

4. Tree Decoration

Take old wine or olive oil bottles or any other fancy, shapely or colorful bottle and using sturdy jute twine or anything similar, hang low from your bottom tree branches. It will give your yard a surreal and magical look.

5. Cat Toys

Using an avocado seed, create a fun and fast moving cat toy. Once you clean the seed thoroughly and allow to dry for a day, attach a string or other fun item and your cat will be entertained for hours.

6. Painting the News

Use old newspaper as background for your paintings. This works especially great if you are reusing canvas, paper or wood. Using a light shear color over the top so the newspaper is still seen underneath the painting itself, Original and eye-catching.

7. Change Collector

Use old bottles and jars to keep your spare change. Label them with fun sayings by cutting out magazine words, letters or drawing your own and taping them around the jar using clear packing tape. Some ideas would be: college fund, runaway money, concert money, vacation, etc.

8. Bottle Cap Lampshade

Using bottle caps spice up your old lampshade. Simple glue the bottle caps around the existing lampshade in patterns or however you see fit. Use strong permanent glue.

9. Picture Frames

Using bottle caps, old magazines, material or newspapers, glue around a basic picture frame. This makes great personalized gifts.

10. Head Bands

Take old material, ribbon pieces, bows from gifts and anything else your heart desires and use it to refurbish your plain head band. Using a little super glue or strong water proof glue, wrap the material around the head band and glue at the ends and middle. If you have left over flowers from wrappings or anything else, throw those on there too for a dash of your own flare.

11. Reusable Bags

Give your tee shirts, shower curtains and table cloths a second life by sewing them into a simple reusable bag. Try using an old belt as the strap. With tee shirts, it its best to cut out the design and sew on to sturdy material or double the material up by sewing two tee shirts together to create one bag. Original and a thousand times better than using plastic bags!

12. Tire Garden

If recycling your old tire isn’t available, try using it as a flower pot. Plant flowers or herbs in the old tire and give it a second life.

Patrick Hopkins holds a B.A in Journalism and currently writes for Phoenix Kiosk, a kiosk manufacturer. He covers everything from outdoor kiosks to technology and education.  Phoenix Kiosk: Innovative Technologies from Vision to Reality.

Here are three ways that you can save cash by cutting waste.

1. Recycling

I am not talking about picking cans out of the trash and recycling them for $0.05 a piece (though you can do that, too). You can actually recycle bigger items you are no longer using for a decent chunk of change.

My Boneyard Recycle is one good example of a great recycling company. They take electronics such as cellphones, game consoles and media players. You select the type on their website and it will tell you how much you can get based on condition. It might be as little as $20 or as much as $200. This is then applied to a prepaid Visa card when you send in your item. Shipping it paid by the site with a prepaid shipping label you can download and print from home.

Freecycling

No, it isn’t riding a bike instead of driving a car (though that always helps)! It is finding people who have items they want to get rid of and taking those items off their hands. Everything is free – if you couldn’t tell by the name – and it will keep you from spending money and keep them from throwing it away. You can also get rid of your own stuff using this method.

Probably the largest and most popular site is Freecycle, which will help you find groups in your area. From there you can search for items.

Reducing Energy Use

Turning off lights when you leave a room, keeping the TV switched off when not watching it, using media players instead of radios, changing your computer settings to be more power efficient…these are all probably second nature to you by now. But there are a few others ways you can keep from wasting energy.

• Turn off all appliances at night. This doesn’t mean going through and unplugging everything in your home, which is a hassle most won’t bother with. Instead, you can put everything on large power strips and then switch that off at night, then on whenever you need them. Some might not even be switched back on for days!
• Do larger loads. Instead of separating all of your clothes, do as many as you can at once, This saves water and energy when you dry it. Hang what you can on clothes lines if you have the space, such as sheets and other linens that usually take several cycles to complete in a tumble dryer.
• Only switch off the lights if you are leaving the room for more than 15 minutes. This will actually save bulbs, which are more damaging that the energy spent to keep them on. Frequent switching on and off will burn them out faster.

Jessy is a sustainable blogger and stay at home mom who writes for Home Loan Finder, the free eco-friendly online mortgage broker. Check out our post on how buying old houses saves your money and the environment!

cc licensed ( BY ) flickr photo shared by seannaber

Tips for Going Green in the Bathroom

Image by Dominik Schwind

Standard toilet paper is made with more than 90% virgin paper fibers. Millions of trees are cut down yearly to keep up with the demand for super-soft toilet paper. 25-50 percent of the pulp used to make toilet paper in the U.S. comes from tree farms in South America and the U.S. ultimately contributing to global warming. Since the paper industry is the third largest emitter of toxic pollutants, the production of toilet paper impacts the environment in more ways than one.
Recycled paper, although not quite as soft and a little more expensive, is just as effective in doing the job and reduced the amount of trees cut down and toxins released in the production of paper products. It is made from recycled paper, so no new trees are cut down in the process. According to Seventh Generation, if every household in the U.S. would switch out just one roll of virgin fiber toilet paper for a recycled roll, 933,000 trees would be saved and 60,000 tons of emissions would be avoided.

I was an English teacher. How on earth could I live without paper?

And yet … and yet, I was the teacher who was constantly complaining about how much paper our students were wasting: printing out their Facebook timelines, printing pages and pages of song lyrics, printing out “information” that they would never look at when they wrote their “papers.” Yep, I was the teacher who kept harping on sustainability, so I was the one who should put my money where my mouth was.

Creating a Paperless Classroom

Image by e-magic

But paper-free classroom? Could it be done?

One paper-free year later, I am here to say that yes, it can be done.

In our high school, every student had a laptop. Without that scenario, the paper-free classroom would be more difficult. However, with adequate access to technology, paper-free seemed pretty simple.

First, you need a virtual classroom…

Your school might provide this without you even knowing it, so it’s worth asking. If your school does not have a virtual option, you can simply get a Moodle. Go to moodle.org and create your own classroom.

Have a rubric? Upload it to your Moodle. Have an assignment? Upload it to your Moodle. Have students email their assignments to you. Student work is automatically neater, and your desk stays more sanitary. You don’t end up needing to run to make photocopies because a student “lost” his copy of the rubric. You can just refer him to the virtual classroom. You don’t have to listen to a student say, “I never got this assignment.” You can tell her, “It was posted in virtual classroom.” Teachers can quickly imagine how much this transparency helps with teacher-parent conflicts. Invite parents to view your virtual classroom whenever they like.

If you’re the red pen, slash-and-dash type, you can always have students submit their work in a Word document, or an equivalent, and then use the “track changes” feature to make your corrections. I also found, much to my old-fashioned dismay, that students read my “electronic” comments more than they read the ones I used to write on their papers, those corrected papers that so often went straight into the recycling bin.

Of course, we still used books. We still read The Great Gatsby from actual books with actual paper, but if I’d had a student with a Kindle, I would have encouraged him or her to use it.

But I found myself needing far fewer photocopied poems and short stories. Nearly any poem I wanted to use was quickly accessible online. And I found myself discovering new and exciting work from contemporary writers because I was poking around online.

The system wasn’t perfect, and I’m not claiming that all of my students turned into earth-loving hippies. But one thing that kids today understand is the importance of technology. They understand that part, and 99% of the time, they were willing to cooperate.

This guest post was written by Robin Merrill, who can usually be found writing for Wisconsin Dells Hotels.

The awareness of recycling and the knowledge of how it is integral to maintaining a healthy environment is increasing, but there are still some products that get overlooked. Recycling is important for two main reasons; preserving natural resources for future generations and controlling the space for landfill waste. In order to keep our planet green we need to start preventing the dumping of products which contain toxic or damaging materials in our landfills. The vast majority of mobile phones contain a catalog of toxic substances including; lead, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, mercury, copper, nickel and zinc.

Image by Dru Bloomfield – At Home in Scottsdale

Research has shown that when substances from old mobile / cell phones enter landfills they can leak into the surrounding soil and dangerous toxins from incinerated mobile phones can pollute the environment.

Not only are mobile phones made with toxic substances, the core of the product is made with materials which most importantly can be recycled. Recycling these plastics and metals can help reduce the cost of manufacturing and help to reduce our need for future resources. It is important for renewable resources to have a product life-cycle for as long as possible, unused products such as mobile phones which are left in landfills will eventually decompose and release methane gas which is one of the major factors in global warming and is more damaging than CO2.

If you feel inspired to recycle your mobile phone you can inquire about the specifics of mobile phone and battery recycling from your local council or government body. This article was written in association with MyPhoneDeals who are big advocates of recycling old mobile phones. If you are in the process of recycling your mobile phone and looking for a new contract MyPhoneDeals have highlighted the best android phone for 2011

Whilst the hot water heater boiler scrappage scheme in England has now ended it has resulted in a large amount of people swapping out their old inefficient water heaters / boilers for new ones; and if you’re living in Scotland, you can still take part in the scheme.

Image by cogdogblog

The benefits of this scheme should not be underestimated as by switching to a new combi-boiler you could be £200 ($320) per year better off as they are so much more efficient than older boilers / water heaters.

A new boiler can have a massive impact on your life. A combi boiler as an example gives instant hot water, so no more waiting around for the hot water to heat up, and with no hot water tank you can now have endless hot water.

The boiler scrappage scheme applied to privately owned homes or those living in a privately rented homes, yet bizarrely it did not apply to housing associations or registered social landlords. This meant some of those in most need of a new boiler could not get the boiler scrappage scheme discount.

The boiler scrappage scheme allowed those who qualified to get a £400 ($640) discount voucher off of the government. However the voucher could not be used retrospectively, so if you had applied for a voucher but then had a boiler installed before it came, you could not claim back the £400 ($640), and this was a trap that many people fell into.

Yet today even though the government boiler scrappage scheme has ended you can still get similar discounts from the likes of British Gas and EAGA, although it should be noted that their boiler fitting prices may be higher than if you went to your local heating engineer to buy one. That said some independent heating engineers are also offering their own boiler scrappage schemes.

These boiler schemes really are well worth taking up as the fuel savings can be huge. My new boiler as an example is ninety percent more efficient than the old one, and it keeps my house warmer, yet uses far less gas to do so. In addition it gives a constant flow of hot water even if another tap or appliance such as a dishwasher, is turned on.

So what boilers were eligible for the scrappage scheme? Well all boilers classed as type “G” were eligible. In general any boiler with a pilot light constantly lit was a type “G” boiler, as was pretty much any boiler over 15 years old. So the vast majority of people could actually claim a voucher for a new boiler, however many people failed to do so.

Readers in the US might be interested in switching to a tankless water heater which we will cover in a future article

Seven Ways to Make Doing Your Laundry Greener

Well, you can! Here are seven tips to help get you started;

1. Use Cool Water

Most modern laundry detergents are designed to work in cool water, so there is really no need to wash at a higher temperature. If you do want to do a hot wash, you can still rinse the clothes in cold water.

2. Full Loads Are More Efficient

Every time you do a load, it uses energy. While most washers have a small load setting, a single full load uses less energy than two small loads. Make sure you don’t overfill the machine though, as clothes need to move freely in order to get them clean.

3. Dry Your Clothes Naturally

Drying your clothes on a washing line uses no energy at all, and your clothes will smell great as well! Of course, sometimes the weather just won’t cooperate, but even if you just air dry your clothes when the sun is shining, you will end up saving lots of energy.

4. Vinegar Is Your Friend

Vinegar is excellent for washing and is environmentally friendly. An equal mix of vinegar and water can be used to pre-treat stains, avoiding chemical sprays and saving money as well. A half cup of vinegar in the rinse cycle will soften your clothes, and will eliminate static cling.

5. Lemon Juice, Not Bleach

Bleach is a harsh chemical which pollutes the environment, but how else are you going to get your whites really white? The secret is lemon juice! If you add half a cup to your wash, the citric acid in the juice will whiten your wash, and the lemon will make your laundry smell wonderful.

6. Add Baking Soda to Your Wash

Baking soda can help to get your clothes cleaner! It is mildly alkaline, which helps to dissolve grease, and it will deodorize your clothes. Adding baking soda has another benefit; it softens the water and helps to prevent lime scale build-up. However, make sure you don’t mix baking soda and neat vinegar, or you will end up with a fountain of foam!

7. Detergent Alternatives

There are number of eco-friendly detergents on the market, but there are other natural alternatives. Soap flakes are kind to the environment, although you may need to do a warmer wash to get your clothes clean. Another option is to use soap nuts, which are actually the fruit of a small shrub. Soap nuts help to dissolve dirt and grease, and have been used for thousands of years in Asia and in the Americas. If you have time feel free to checkout our related article on Soap Nuts.

We hope you enjoyed this guest post by Christian, if you have any related ideas for making laundry greener we’d love to hear from you