subject: Tremendous growth in mobile phone usage needs to think on recycling issues [print this page] Tremendous growth in mobile phone usage needs to think on recycling issues
I remember till few years back there was a time when owning a cell phone was a prestige point, being able to make and receive phone calls is so important to people that even the very poor are prepared to pay for it. In places with bad roads, unreliable postal services, few trains and parlous landlines, mobile phones can substitute for travel, allow quicker and easier access to information on prices, and enable traders to reach wider markets, boost entrepreneurship and generally make it easier to do business.
Owning a cell phone is still now a prestigious thing but the word prestige is somehow replaced owning a new technology phone rather than just a cell phone. A study by the World Resources Institute found that as developing-world incomes rise, household spending on mobile phones grows faster than spending on energy, water or indeed anything else.
The trends in particular which are reshaping the telecoms landscape, among them firstly is the spread of mobile phones in developing countries has been accompanied by the rise of home-grown mobile operators in China, India, Africa and the Middle East that rival or exceed the industry's Western incumbents in size.
With the emergence of China's two leading telecoms-equipment-makers as Huawei and ZTE, that has entered the global stage in the past five years. Initially dismissed as low-cost, low-quality producers, they now have a growing reputation for quality and innovation, prompting a shake-out among the incumbent Western equipment-makers. They have expanded their market share as subscriber numbers continue to grow and networks are upgraded from second-generation (2G) to third-generation (3G) technology.
The development of new phone-based service which is beyond voice calls and basic text messages are now becoming feasible because mobile phones are relatively widely available. In poor countries data services such as mobile-phone-based agricultural advice, health care and money transfer could provide enormous economic and developmental benefits. Beyond all this, mobile networks and low-cost computing devices are poised to offer the benefits of full internet access to people in the developing world in the coming years.
As we get to trade in for the newest, trendiest phones. But what happens to our old ones? Most of the time they just work fine and we just change because we can get a super cool new phone for free. So do you take them home and put them in a box somewhere to be found the next spring cleaning? Do you just throw them away? I know I have been guilty of both, but that was before I found out all the different ways those phone could be recycled.
It's also really bad for the environment to have cell phones in our landfills. There are a few ways you can help people and the environment by recycling cell phones. There are lots of different ways to recycle your old cell that are all super easy and will help to start making a different in the way we treat our planet.
It's never too early to start thinking green and start helping to make a difference. So next time you go to get that new smart phone or your phone breaks and you just need a new one, remember to recycle cell phones.
