Image: CannedTuna/Flickr (Creative Commons)
The mobile phone business is one that moves rapidly with updated models coming out frequently. People can have the latest gadgets, the latest upgrades, and the latest new model, but it won’t last for long because only months later a newer version will have already been released. For those people who want to stay on the cutting edge of technology, this can be quite costly.
What Normally Happens?
What normally happens is that when somebody upgrades his or her phone, the old phone ends up in a draw or in a dark corner of a room. Its value steadily declines, until it hits zero, and it has no further life and must be recycled. This is not just the case for those who are attempting to stay at the forefront of mobile phone technology, either; it’s anybody who upgrades from an old phone to a new one.
What’s the Problem?
The problem with just throwing an old phone into a corner is that it not being used. The owner is no longer using it due to an upgrade and may be keeping it “just in-case”. Generally, if the phone is in working order and fairly recent, somebody the owner knows will be able to get some use out of it, but if it is too old, it will just sit there.
This means that the frequent other option is to just throw the phone out. But throwing the phone out doesn’t help anybody due to the fact that it will only end up in a bin somewhere and then the inevitable landfill heap. And this attitude only creates more waste when the phone could have been put to some use or at least recycled to protect the environment. Mobile phone recycling is a common practice, but recycling should always be the last resort as if the phone does have useful life left in it, its better to rehome the phone.
Don’t sell it, Trade It
Instead, why not consider selling your old mobile for cash instead? It is hard and time consuming to do this yourself, and if it is an old mobile phone, it can be hard to find a someone who will buy it. But there are new companies that allow you to trade in your old mobile phone very easily.
One of these companies in Australia is ReGadget. They encourage people to take their old mobile phones, get an instant price from their website, pop the phone in a prepaid shipping bag, and send them off to them. The price they will pay for your old mobile phone will depend on the condition of the phone, accessories including and if it has any faults.
This price will then be paid directly into the sellers bank account after the phone is received and inspected. It essentially provides a way that allows people to make money off of their old phones.
The Results
What do they do with old phones, though? If everybody else couldn’t find a use for them then what would a company do with them?
The answer is that they do something good with these phones. They not only stop them going to landfill by recycling all of their old phones, they take them over to developing countries. Just because old phones are considered to be obsolete and worthless in some countries doesn’t mean to say that they are not at the forefront of the mobile phone industry in other countries. What people have to remember is that it can take years for the newest models to reach some developing countries.
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