Cricket launches phone recycling program

Cricket wireless has announced a cell phone recycling program. This is certainly an important issue that extends far beyond Earth Day. Not only can the parts used to make cell phones be reused, but the presence of these and other electronic devices in landfills is hazardous to the environment. So why not take an easy measure and recycle your old phone instead of throwing it away? Collectively it can make a big difference. Cricket bills this as a “national” phone recycling program, though the directive is to drop off phones at participating stores. Problem is, Cricket doesn’t have stores nationwide. To remedy this, they’ve set up a page on their website wherein customers can print out a postage-paid label and send off the phone. You can find this at mycricket.com/green.

A typical phone contains materials like arsenic, zinc and lead, therefore throwing out old cell phones is not only wasteful, it’s dangerous. These materials can seep into groundwater or even end up in the air we breathe,” said Tim Ostrowski, vice president for Cricket who is leading the company’s environmental efforts. “We at Cricket feel a responsibility to do what we can to help protect our environment and our communities. By making this recycling program simple and convenient we hope customers will partner with Cricket to do something good for the environment and help raise funds for Rebuilding Together.

Cricket has gotten involved in other efforts which expand beyond the realm of cell phone service. Last year they bussed Wisconsin residents to election polls. They also partnered with Declare Yourself to promote voter registration and participation. Most recently, we saw them work with Rebuilding Together.]]>