ring, ring... your new cell phone is calling!

i just read in E magazine that the average north american gets a new cell phone every 18 to 24 months... ouch... think of the insane amount of e-waste that adds up to! i thought about my own cell phone history, and it made me shudder. i needed a new one after a car accident destroyed it, i needed a new one when the battery died (cheap ass phones!), then i "needed" to upgrade to a treo because technology was zooming past me and i had 2 old gadgets. now i have one super new-ish model... well, i always made sure to return the old phone to the recycling center through cingular, but do they really recycle it?

according to E magazine, "As of July 1, 2006, electronics retailers doing business there [in california] must have a cellphone recycling system in place in order to legally sell their products, whether online or in-store. Other U.S. states considering similar legislation include Illinois, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Vermont and Virginia, while the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick are likely to jump on the mandatory cell phone recycling bandwagon soon." http://www.emagazine.com/view/?3727

wonderful... but until this becomes reality, think twice about your old gadgets & rechargeable batteries, recycle them and spread the word.

here are three good resources: Call2Recycle; CollectiveGood; ReCellular