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Cell Phone Campaign How many old cell phones do you have lying around your house???There are more than 150 million cellular users in the United States alone. About 40 million phones turnover or “churn” annually. If you add in the rapidly growing number of out of use phones, it is estimated that by 2005 there will be over 700 million retired phones in the U.S. We have an EXCITING opportunity to do an EASY cell phone collection project in collaboration with the KMA Subcommittee on Domestic Violence, Chaired by KMAA Past President Nancy Swikert, MD. As many of you already know, Domestic Violence shelters collect cell phones to be given to Domestic Violence victims---911 calls are free from any cell phone. There is a GREAT need to collect and recycle those old cell phones for Domestic Violence shelters and victims throughout the Commonwealth of KY. Shelters out in the state, not in the larger cities, are in critical need of cell phones to distribute. This is where the KMAA comes in. A company in Louisville, Eco-Cell, would like to help us get those old cell phones out of drawers and into the hands of people who need them. Eco-cell will take our donations and wholesale them out of state to be refurbished and sent to foreign countries; those which cannot be refurbished for use in foreign countries will be reprogrammed and donated to domestic violence shelters. It’s a win-win situation! The KMAA receives funds for the old phones and domestic violence shelters receives phones for their use (the unusable ones are recycled under strict EPA guidelines with certified recyclers.) Old cell phones cannot go into landfills because of the toxins present within the phone. Cell phones and their accessories contain a large number of Persistent, Bioaccumulative and Toxic Chemicals (PBTs) which include antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, copper and lead. These can linger in the environment for a long time and have adverse effects on human health. A number of these chemicals have been known to cause damage to the nervous system, reproductive and development problems, cancer and have other genetic impacts. You can start by collecting old cell phones and chargers at your County Alliance and Board meetings. Eco-Cell will gladly provide the boxes used for collecting (just let KMA know whom to send the boxes to)…and they can go anywhere… the hospital, offices (of course check with the property owners before you place a box). The boxes are designed to prevent people from removing cell phones once they are placed in the box. Once you collect the phones, please let us know and we will arrange for shipment. KMA
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