Keeping up With the Silicon Valley
Ah, the Silicon Valley, a tech nirvana nestled in the southern San Francisco Bay Area of California. You may or may not have heard of start ups and prominent business hailing from this region. Google, Facebook, Twitter, & Apple all originate from the Silicon Valley area. Each year these companies produce innovative and technologically savvy gadgets to make life just a tad easier. Gadgets like smartphones (because cellphones are SO overrated) , smart watches, tablets, and laptops to name a few.
‘Gotta Catch ‘Em All’- Cellphones of course!
If you’re tech savvy, you’ll know that within a year or two there’ll be an even better alternative to the hefty investment you made on that gadget this year. We’re constantly in search for gadgets better than the ones we have just to make life more efficient and to keep up with societal upgrades. There are $50 smartphones and there are $1,000 alternatives, but the efficiency and brand of the phone adds value to it. So we are constantly upgrading our cellphones year to year just so our life is a little easier than it was before. So, what ever happened to the old phones we had like the Nokia, Blackberry, or Motorola? Where are they now?
- In your garage or drawer collecting dust
- Hanging out in some landfill in the middle of nowhere
- Grandma Jo is figuring out how to use it
- Recycled it like a boss
I hope everyone will one day be able to go with option 4, but I’m pretty sure most of us are guilty of option 1 & 2. Option 3 is a smart way to go if your phone functions well, and you just want to help someone in need.
So what’s your excuse for not being able to go with option 4? I’m not too sure what to do with it? I have enough information in my old phone for someone to hack my life? My phone is a device that was crafted in the Stone Age? I paid for it so I’d rather hold on to it so I can pass it along as a ‘heirloom’? These are all justifiable reasons, but nothing some education and research can’t help you recycle those old cellphones.
We’ve got Answers!
If you’re not too sure of what to do with your old phones or where to take them, then we might have a green suggestion for you. If your phone is fully functioning and in tact you can always donate it to charity, you can hand it down to a friend or family member, use it is an alternative incase something happens to your new phone, drop it off at a cellphone recycling location, or try your luck on resale apps or sites.
If you have too many personal details in your old cellphones, then there’s a super simple solution for that. Move any old pictures to a flash drive and jot down any important contacts or notes. Then go into settings and factory reset that bad boy. This will erase all your personal details from that device. You can also erase your old SIM cards and memory cards. You can also repurpose old SD cards into new devices like phones or cameras. Be mindful of what SD card size is required by your new device though. Check twice to make sure your personal information is deleted from the old phone, and then take it to a cellphone recycling drop off or to a charity of your choice. If you forgot to wipe out your device, then you’re not completely out of luck. Some companies use third party services to delete your stored data for you.
Don’t worry if your old cellphones are a work of the Stone Age because they’re still a ‘green’ mine (cheesy eco- blogger joke) for recycling companies. Cellphones contain precious metals that can be recycled and reused in other devices. The recycling of these metals will reduce the strain on current resources. If you’re just collecting them as ‘heirlooms’, then we wish you luck on your collection of old cellphones. Seriously!
A Small Note From Us:
We all have concerns about recycling, donating, or discarding our old cellphones, but please keep the Earth in mind. It’s up to us to make sure those old phones don’t make it to a landfill and take hundreds of years to decompose. Please don’t throw any electronic devices in your dumpster rental. If you’re unsure about what you can or cannot throw in your dumpster rental. Click here or you can call us! We’ll make sure your needs are addressed and have you on your way.
Follow Bargain Dumpster on Twitter & Facebook or call us for more information at 1-800-856-2896.
