Recycle Old Cell Phones at Verizon Wireless Stores

Verizon Wireless offers a free recycling service for no-longer-used wireless phones, batteries and equipment open to everyone in the United States. Verizon Wireless took the lead by becoming the first wireless service provider in the nation to collect and recycle old wireless phones and is offering several tips on how to "go green" while saving money, the environment - and quite possibly, someone's life.

Recycle: Consumers and businesses can recycle their no-longer-used wireless phones through the Verizon Wireless HopeLine program. HopeLine accepts wireless phones, batteries and accessories in any condition from any manufacturer or service provider. Simply drop off no-longer-used phones, batteries and accessories at any Verizon Wireless Communications Store and the company will dispose of them in an environmentally sound way.

To date, HopeLine has Collected nearly 4.4 million wireless phones and kept more than 200 tons of electronics waste and batteries out of landfills.

Reuse: Phones collected through HopeLine are refurbished, resold and reused whenever possible. Proceeds from HopeLine are used to provide wireless phones and cash grants for domestic violence prevention and awareness programs and local shelters nationwide. Since 2001, Verizon Wireless' HopeLine program has donated more than $4 million in cash grants to shelters and non-profit organizations from coast to coast. In addition, Verizon has donated more than 45,000 phones with 100 million minutes of airtime and other features to domestic violence prevention organizations.

Reduce: When left plugged in, empty cellphone chargers consume standby or "phantom" energy - the same goes for all chargers. To help save energy and energy costs, consumers should plug all electronic chargers into a power strip and switch it off when the chargers are not in use. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates appliances and home electronics are responsible for about 20 percent of a typical home's energy bill - simply unplugging appliances, electronics and their chargers when not in use can save each household hundreds of dollars a year.