Charitable Recycling: Eyeglasses, Printer Cartridges, and Mobile Phones

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Charitable Recycling: Eyeglasses, Printer Cartridges,

and Mobile Phones

Adapted from Reduce, Reuse,

Recycle: An Easy Household Guide by Nicky (Chelsea Green, 2007)

Who doesn’t keep old eyeglasses for

back up when they get a new pairâ€"and end up with an overflowing drawer of dated

glasses we wouldn’t be caught dead in now? If you find yourself in a

drawer-cleaning frenzy you might turn to our favorite recycling guide for

advice on what to do with that pile of old glasses. We also stumbled across

what to do with printer cartridges (also in a drawer) and mobile phones (yes,

they usually have a drawer too). Read here for tips on how to recycle

eyeglasses, printer cartridges and mobile phones--those junk drawer items that

don’t feel right to throw awayâ€"and learn how to contribute to charity at the

same time.

SIMPLE SOLUTION:

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: An Easy

Household Guide by Nicky is a great resource

for figuring out what to do with the random items that are not listed in basic

recycling guides. Our municipal recycling charts tell us all about juice

cartons and newspapers, but eyeglasses and mobile

phones? No. So, Nicky, take it away (so to speak).

Eyeglasses

Take eyeglasses to retailers for use in the third world. The Lions Club has a

huge eyeglass recycling programâ€"in 2005 they collected more than 5 million

pairs of eyeglasses, distributing them to more than 3 million people in

developing nations.

Note: Call (800) CLEANUP for a list

of drop-off centers for your old eyeglasses. These centers are affiliated with

a program called Give the Gift of Sight, which is sponsored by the Lions Club

and LensCrafters.

Printer Cartridges

There are a growing number of businesses that will buy empty inkjet

cartridgesâ€"as well as fundraising options such as Cartridges

for Kids. Many print cartridge manufacturers will provide a prepaid

envelope for convenient recycling. Always turn off a printer so that it parks

the print head to prevent the cartridge head from drying up.

Mobile Phones

Recycling you mobile phone can help to reduce the impact that mining of the

mineral coltan is having on the wildlife (think: gorillas) and forests of

Congo. Coltan is used to process the rare element tantalum required in the

manufacture of mobile phones.

• You can return your unwanted

mobile phone and accessories directly to retail outlets throughout the country.

Some states have introduced legislation requiring all wireless phone providers

to accept phones for reuse or recycling.

• Sprint Project Connect is a recycling program

from Sprint whereby they accept all makes and models of phones regardless of

the service provider. Proceeds go to programs focusing on children and Internet

safety.

•You can send your phone to Phones 4 Charity,

an organization that supports a number of charities including the National Breast Cancer

Foundation and the National Wildlife Federation. Non-working phones are

recycled.

• Donate your phone to the national Call to Protect program, which provides phones to domestic

violence agencies; phones are refurbished and become lifelines for domestic

violence survivors when faced with an emergency situation.