Posts Tagged ‘Recycling Cell Phones’

Recycling for Charities: Our Earth Day Challenge

Thursday, March 18th, 2010

Where is your old cell phone? How about your iPod that broke last month? Most likely they have been sent to their final resting place — your junk drawer. Why not do something positive with it, instead of letting it sit to collect dust?

So, are you up for the challenge? If you are visiting the Royal Oak area between March 22 and April 24 you will have the opportunity to recycle your used and broken electronics, including cell phones, iPhones, pagers, iPods, PDAs, MP3 players, and digital cameras. Leading up to the Earth Day weekend, Recycling for Charities will have collection boxes placed in participating businesses and stores in downtown Royal Oak. Individuals can drop off their old electronics and may even receive a discount for being green (a list of participating businesses, locations, and discounts can be found at the end of this post)! Feel free to snap a picture of yourself doing your green deed and upload it to Facebook or Twitter. Don’t forget to mention us so that we can show others how you helped make a difference this Earth Day!

When thrown away cell phones create  tons of garbage in our landfills. Just one is enough to pollute about 1 Olympic sized swimming pool of water!  Recycling for Charities is giving you the opportunity to help the environment while celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. The challenge to keep our landfills clean of e-waste will culminate with the Earth Day community celebration in downtown Royal Oak, April 25. By participating you can help prevent electronic waste from entering our water sources and landfills, where they can continue to release harmful chemicals. All you need to do is bring your used or broken wireless electronics, and RFC will do the rest. Going green is that easy, and you can write it off on your taxes!

RFC will also be taking their mission to the streets of Royal Oak in their eco-friendly Smart Car. Participants will have the chance to get up close and personal with the Smart Car and will learn how this tiny vehicle is helpful to the environment.

Only 10 percent of used and broken cell phones are recycled each year. What is your excuse? You can help Recycling for Charities eliminate e-waste this Earth Day by donating your old electronics to local stores or by bringing them to the community event on April 25 from 12-3:30 pm. Let’s help make Michigan a little “greener” this Earth Day, together!

Participating Businesses:

1 ) AlexEmilio Salon – The goal at AlexEmilio is to make an impact on your life, just by changing how you look. They want you to feel amazing when you leave and continue to feel that way. The salon offers haircuts and color along with nail and facial treatments.

409 South Main St., Royal Oak, MI 48067

2 ) Bean & Leaf Café – This café provides their customers with environmentally friendly cups that are 100% bio-degradable and offers many varieties of fair trade organic coffees. Customers can also browse the internet while enjoying their cup of coffee thanks to the café’s free Wi-Fi. When you buy a $20 gift card, you will get a drink of any size on the house, and all of those who work in Royal Oak can receive 10% off their order- be sure to mention Recycling for Charities!

106 S. Main St., Royal Oak, MI 48962

3 ) Café Muse – Voted as having one of the best sandwiches in America by Esquire Magazine, Café Muse offers an array of items for breakfast and lunch. They also pride themselves on their natural cuisine, using fresh ingredients and products that are humanely treated and grown without the use of pesticides or growth hormones. Make sure to look for a blurb on Recycling for Charities in the list of specials at Café Muse!

418 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, MI 48067

4 ) Douglas J Aveda Institute –Douglas J provides cutting edge cosmetology education. With its affiliation with Aveda, Douglas J is able to share and exchange curriculum ideas and learn the latest innovations in areas like cosmetology and esthiology. Students provide services such as haircuts and color, as well as spa, facial, and nail treatments under the supervision of their instructors. All donations dropped off at Douglas J will benefit the Oakland Land Conservancy.

409 S. Center St., Royal Oak, MI 48067

5 ) Scout – This eclectic shop sells art work, home décor, vintage finds, pottery, and textiles… just to name a few. When you drop off your old electronics at Scout you will receive 10% off of all candles.

508 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, MI 48067

6 ) Shine – When visiting this trendy store expect to find unique bags, jewelry, pillows, books, body products, and much more! You will receive 10% off your entire purchase when you drop off your old electronics at Shine!

621 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, MI 48068

7 ) TASI Juice Bar – Known as the ‘healthy side of fast food’ TASI serves up great smoothies and fresh snacks. As a bonus to the environmentally-conscious,  the wheatgrass used in their delicious drinks is organically grown!

204 West 4th St., Royal  Oak, MI 48067

8 ) Titzy’s – The philosophy of Titzy’s is to bring great and unique maternity, infant and nursing wear to people at a fair price. They also offer organic items such as lotion for mothers and babies. Those who drop off their electronics at Titzy’s will receive 10% off their entire purchase!

506 S. Washington Ave., Royal Oak, MI 48067

Not going to be in the Royal Oak area? You can still do your part to help us reach our goal by donating items to be recycled right here on our website.

NYC Wins Coinstar Grant – Plans to Recycle Cell Phones

Friday, May 30th, 2008

Coinstar, Inc. today announced that New York City has won its ‘Coinstar’s Greenest City’ contest. The Big Apple beat out nine other cities to win the title and a $10,000 grant for the New York-based environmental non-profit organization INFORM. The non-profit plans to apply their grant to their “Recycle Your Cell Phone Campaign.” During the month-long contest ending Oct. 15, the New York City area had the highest percentage increase in coin cash-ins at Coinstar Centers compared to a year ago. Consumers put approximately 200 million coins back into circulation.

As part of Coinstar’s Change for our Earth initiative, cities were challenged with reusing idle coin in their city to reduce the need for new coin production. In turn, this lowers environmental impacts associated with primary copper production and preserves natural resources. Coinstar estimates that there is over $10 billion in idle change sitting in U.S. households, with an estimated $687 million in the New York City area.

“This contest proves that individual actions can make a significant impact on improving the environment as demonstrated by the residents of New York City,” said Alex Camara, senior vice president of worldwide coin at Coinstar, Inc. “We are encouraged by the enthusiasm of participants across the country to find creative solutions, like reusing coins, that will lead us to a more environmentally-friendly future.”

INFORM, Inc. will use the $10,000 grant to help raise awareness of their ‘Recycle Your Cell Phone Campaign’ that educates the public about the need to recycle and how to do it responsibly. They also plan on advocating for making wireless telephone service providers responsible for taking back their products at the end of their useful life.

“We are thrilled with the outcome of this contest and to have the opportunity to spread the word about cell phone recycling,” said Virginia Ramsey, President of INFORM. “We’d like to thank the residents of New York City for taking the time to cash in their change for this contest and for helping us win the $10,000 grant.”

The top five cities that competed in ‘Coinstar’s Greenest City’ contest are as follows:

1. New York City, New York
2. Seattle, Washington
3. San Francisco, California
4. Chicago, Illinois
5. Atlanta, Georgia

Coinstar encourages Americans to reuse coin in whatever way best suits their needs, whether it’s donating it to charity, using it for parking meters, putting it toward cash transactions or cashing in at a Coinstar Center.

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