INKJET, CELLPHONE, LAPTOP RECYCLING

In keeping with our "Green Building" initiatives and goals, Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk is proud to announce a new, environmentally responsible community service initiative designed to benefit local families while simultaneously helping to alleviate the fast growing environmental problem of e-waste in the landfills. But we need your help…

Simply dust off your old cell phone, empty inkjet cartridges or laptop* computer and package it for shipping.  Call or email our office at lori@habitatsuffolk.org / (631)924-4966 x 109 to get a shipping label.  Call DHL for a pickup and 100% of the proceeds from the recycling of these items will benefit Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk.

If you would like to start recycling in your workplace and would like to place a collection bin or distribute flyers please call Lori at the number above.

*NOTE: All donated laptops will have their hard drives removed and destroyed.

Interesting waste recycling facts:
Over 100 million cellular phones are stockpiled in U.S. households creating potentially hazardous waste. By 2008, an estimated 130 million cellular phones will be discarded annually in the U.S. alone. On average Americans replace their cell phones every 12 to 18 months. Unfortunately, cell phones contain eight toxic substances including: Arsenic, Antimony, Beryllium, Cadmium, Copper, Lead, Nickel and Zinc. Although benign when properly refurbished or recycled by companies such as EcoPhones, these toxic substances pose a serious environmental and health risk if discarded improperly. Cell phone toxins leach into soil and groundwater from landfills and form highly toxic dioxins & furans during incineration. In fact, the cadmium from a single phone is capable of polluting 158,200 gallons of water. That's 1.2 Million 16-ounce coffees! These toxins have been associated with cancer and range of reproductive, neurological and developmental disorders.

It takes about six hundred pounds of fossil fuels and chemicals to create the chips for one personal computer. Seventy pounds of water are used to rinse out impurities in a single chip. The amount of waste generated to produce one laptop is close to 4,000 times its weight. When you throw away a 5-pound laptop you are throwing away roughly 20,000 pounds of waste.

Founded in 2001, EcoPhones is a leader in cellular phone fundraising and recycling. Working with over 30,000 organizations and communities nationwide, EcoPhones' participants have generated more than $2,500,000 for their local communities through the donation and recycling of obsolescent cellular phones.

For more information please visit www.EcoPhones.com