In recent years we’ve all been encouraged to become more environmentally friendly and conserve the worlds’ resources. We’re all used to recycling food waste, paper, bottles, tins and plastic, but how about gadgets such as mobile phones.
There two very profitable ways to be environmentally friendly with your mobile phone for you to choose from; reusing or recycling.
Reusing
Because good mobile phones are quite expensive, it makes sense to pay more for a quality product and just keep it for longer. There’s no need to be upgrading every two years if your phone still does the job you need it to do. So if you’ve got a high end Smartphone, why not ditch the consumerism by keeping your phone and simply changing your contract.
According to MoneyNewsNow you can save significant money with SIM only deals.
At the end of your mobile phone contract, instead of upgrading your phone ask your provider to give you a SIM only deal and it’s quite likely you will be able to cut your monthly mobile phone bill in half!
You could be even shrewder by shopping around for your SIM only deal. You can search all UK providers to find the very best value SIM only deal quite quickly and easily by using a SIM only comparison website.
Recycling
Another initiative you can take to boost your green credentials is to recycle your old phone.
All of the major networks take part in recycling programmes some offer large bins to drop of your old handsets. This is very convenient as you’ll probably see one in your mobile phone high-street outlet when you’re there to pick a new Smartphone anyway.
Using recycling facilities ensures that your old device is deposited safely with minimum impact to the environment. Some providers operate ‘buy back schemes’ whereby they actually pay you to recycle your old phone.
The price you get for the phone depends on its age and original value but is nearly comparable to the price you might get if selling your phone on eBay, only it’s a lot more convenient.
Alternatively you can sell your mobile directly to a number of independent online recycling sites who will pay you for your used phone.
Either way you recycled phone will meet one of two fates. If it’s a decent phone it will be refurbished and then sold to a less developed country via a quality-of-life improvement programme. If it’s not worth refurbishing because of its age or condition then it will be scrapped for parts with precious metals (including some gold) extracted.
By recycling your mobile you can use the extra cash towards paying the cost of a new Smartphone. This also means that you are effectively getting paid to do your bit for the environment!
