new e-waste law and your old cell phone
Happy Hollow Can Help
On February 9, 2006 a new law took effect in California making it illegal to toss electronic waste, including used cell phones, into the garbage.
As many of you know, Happy Hollow Park and Zoo™ has been a permanent collection point for unwanted cellular phones since 2003.
To date, our program has helped to keep over 5000 cell phones out of local landfills; and along with our partners, ECO-CELL and the Orangutan Conservancy, we have helped protect endangered species and helped community programs for women and the elderly. Whew! Bet you didn't think that recycling your old phone could do so much good! It can - and Happy Hollow not only wants to show you how but also share with you why it's so important.
According to the EPA-sponsored study, "Waste in the Wireless World: The Challenge of Cell Phones", it is estimated that more than 100 million cell phones and other electronic devices are thrown away each year. Cell phone waste is toxic, representing a significant pollution threat because they have the shortest average life span amongst consumer electronics: 1-1/2 years.
Gregg Owens, Happy Hollow Zoo Manager, explains, "By recycling a phone, guests can feel confident they are helping protect local landfills from potentially-hazardous chemicals found in cell phones and accessories - such as arsenic, antimony, cadmium, cobalt, copper, lead, and zinc."
But recycling cell phones at Happy Hollow Park and Zoo™ is not just about protecting landfills. What many people don' know is that cell phones contain coltan, a mineral extracted in the forests of the Congo in central Africa, home to endangered lowland gorillas, as well as numerous species found no where else on earth.
Fueled by worldwide cell phone demand, increased mining operations in the Congo have had a huge impact on wildlife. As thousands of miners have moved into the forests of the Congo, in their search for coltan, hunting pressure on gorillas, elephants and other animals has increased as well. According to the United Nations, in the past 5 years the Eastern Lowland Gorilla population in the Congo has declined 90%.
If cell phones are recycled, refurbished, and reused, the demand for coltan can be reduced, which in turn helps to slow the destruction of the Congo basin and protect the many endangered species that live there. All phones donated to Happy Hollow Park and Zoo™ are sent to ECO-CELL (a cell phone recycling and fundraising company based in Louisville, KY, which runs a strict NO LANDFILL program). All items received by ECO-CELL (including batteries, accessories, and cell phones with no resale value) will be recycled.
Happy Hollow will also take old unusable cell phones to insure that they are recycled properly. "I think we've seen the full range of cells ever produced," explains Gregg. "From the latest high tech phones with cameras to the earliest models which came in suitcases!"
Through ECO-CELL, 70% of the phones collected will be used by first-time, low-income users abroad or by selected local organizations, such as Battered Women's Programs for emergency use (911 calls). Phones are also given to elderly patients that use them for emergency situations.
In addition, for each cell phone received, a donation will be made to Happy Hollow's conservation partner, The Orangutan Conservancy.
We know there is literally a ton of cell phones sitting out there. Help us, and our partners, protect our local environment and the habitats for some of the most endangered species on earth. Bring those phones in and tell your friends!
