Mar 14, 2023
Conquer Cellphone Clutter
What to do with old cell phones
Reading time: 6 minutes
We know a woman who has four old phones stuffed in the back of a drawer in her kitchen and three more tucked in her nightstand. That’s a lot of old phones hanging out, taking up space, and creating clutter.
If you’ve got a similar situation happening in your house, PureTalk can help. There are plenty of ways to dispose of old phones you no longer need or want. Below are some terrific suggestions for getting your old cell phones out of drawers, closets, and anywhere else they’re stashed. Read through and the next time you ask yourself, What to do with old cell phones? you’ll have plenty of options.
Recycle your old cell phone
Believe it or not, old devices represent the largest category of unwanted devices. It’s kind of sad in a way; they go from being the hottest, newest, must-have to “eh” in almost no time. Luckily though, old mobile phones are the easiest thing to recycle. Lots of wireless providers and retailers offer recycling programs or recycling kiosks where you can drop off your old cell phone or mobile devices to be recycled. And they’ll also take your chargers, cables, and accessories.
Beyond retailers and wireless services, there are number of organizations that will gladly take your old cell phone and recycle it.
Organizations that take cell phones
Call 2 Recycle offers old cell phone drop off locations that can be found simply by typing your zip code into the search bar on the C2R homepage. The organization will accept rechargeable batteries, single-use batteries, and damaged or recalled batteries in addition to your old mobile phone. Visit Call2Recycle
Earth 911 provides extensive recycling opportunities for far more than cell phones and batteries. Just enter the material you want to recycle – glass, personal computers, old cell phones, paper, paint, metals, hazardous materials, etc. – and your zip code, and a list of drop off locations in your area will pop up with the name of the place, address and phone number, and a list of exactly what each will accept. Visit Earth911
Sell your old cell phone
If having your old cell phones recycled isn't your thing, eBay or Craigslist are great places to sell your cell phone for cash, as are Facebook online yard sale groups. There are also specialty web sites like Gazelle and SellCell that frequently offer competitive prices for your cell phone without all the hassle of a listing or online auction. And selling gives you more money to put toward a new phone.
About Gazelle: They purchase used iPhones, iPads or MacBooks and, in addition to Apple products, they buy smartphones from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and other major cell phone carriers.
About SellCell: They purchase used iPhones, iPads or MacBooks and, in addition to Apple products, they buy smartphones from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and other major cell phone carriers. They also buy gaming consoles, GoPros, smart home devices, and Amazon Kindles.
Donate it
Donating your old smartphone or old cell phones can be a selfless and worthwhile experience. Charities like Cells for Cells and Cell Phones for Soldiers raise money by repurposing used cell phones for their respective causes.
About Cells for Cells: Cells for Cells recycles cell phones to raise money for families battling cancer and for cancer-related charities. To date, the organization has raised nearly $50,000.00 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by recycling old and broken cell phones. That's a nice cause to donate cell phones to.
About Cell Phones for Soldiers: Cell Phones for Soldiers is a national nonprofit that uses proceeds from donated cell phones to purchase calling cards for troops to call home and to provide emergency funding to veterans. That's another nice cause to donate cell phones to!
Do some research on your own and you'll find lots of good causes who will take your unwanted cell phones.
Transfer it
Let’s say your phone isn’t really that old but, for whatever reason, you’re tired or it. If you’ve got teens or tweens in the house, giving it to them to use makes sense and relieves you of having to find someplace to sell, donate, or recycle it. Looking beyond your kids, maybe you have an aunt or uncle or elderly grandparent who could use it as an extra phone or emergency device. If your phone still holds a charge and gets a signal, if could really be of use to one of those family members.
If you decide to transfer your phone to someone else entirely, maybe a neighbor or close friend, be sure that person understands the costs involved in setting up a phone plan.
Repurpose it
With the price of a new cell phone these days, lots of people are finding unique ways to keep using their old smartphone. Following are some neat ideas to try if you’d like to repurpose your old phone.
Security system camera: Set your old phone up as a doorbell with a camera so you can always see who’s at the door. For exactly how to do it, visit How To Do It All on YouTube.
Remote control: Download an app like SURE Universal Smart TV Remote, Universal Remote Pro, or EzRemote Lite, follow the directions and in no time you’ve got a new remote using your old phone!
GPS: Leave your old phone in the car and use it like an old-fashioned GPS. You get where you’re going without draining the battery in your new phone.
Emergency phone: Even if your old phone is not attached to a phone plan, it can still call 911. Leaving an old phone in the kitchen or in the car might go a long way toward making you or a loved one feel safer and more secure.
You can transfer, recycle, donate, or sell your old phone. But before you do any of those things you need to …
Prep it
Before your old device leaves your hands, make sure you delete all your data. Text messages, emails, photos, other media, and apps should be backed up to storage for the sake of safety. Then go into Settings and restore all of them to factory settings.
There are so many ways to conquer cell phone clutter and now you know several of them!
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Posted 1 year ago