Picture via NPR

Today marks the end of National Recycle Your Cell Phone week and over the past seven days, there has been some really good press about helping the environment by recycling old cell phones.

It’s now estimated that 130 million cell phones are trashed every year, which not only pollutes the environment but also sustains the need for conflict components. An awareness video from Sprint states that Americans discard 16 thousand cell phones every hour. Through cell phone recycling, Samsung is hoping to save 1 million phones from a landfill, which would “reap 75 pounds of gold, 772 pounds of silver and 35,274 pounds of copper. It also would save energy and cut water and air pollution, including greenhouse gases,” according to the EPA.

Don’t forget that one of the easiest, cheapest, and most effective ways to reduce waste and damage caused by cell phone consumption is to purchase refurbished phones. They’re a fraction of retail price and are virtually brand new. To find out more about the benefits of purchasing refurbished cell phones, visit this informative link.