A Live Gorilla: Cell phones can have a devastating cost.
On January 20th, 2006, the National Geographic published an interesting article concerning the relationship between cell phones and the African gorilla. This was certainly not a connection which I had previously been aware of - but it is easy to imagine. The relationships between industry and nature have always been tumultous and change constantly as new products become popular.
In this situation, the key element is a mineral called coltan, which is primarily mined in Australia and Africa. This mineral is used most frequently in the construction of capacitors - which are heavily used in modern technology. Although the metallic ore is commonly used in many products, the National Geographic article focuses on its use in cell phones, since this is a particular market which has experienced a huge international growth spurt over the last decade. And now, as the cell phone market furthers its development, huge numbers of older models are being discarded.
According to the National Geographic article, " Can Cell-Phone Recycling Help African Gorillas?", the average life span of a cell phone is only 14 months - at this rate, the accumulation of unused cell phones approaches 100 million per year.
A concerted recycling program for cell phones is necessary to sustain this usage - without it, the mining practices in the deep Congo which are so damaging to the already endangered lowland gorilla will continue unabated. And as need for coltan, or Columbite-tantalite in full, continues to grow, who knows what populations may also suffer?
Cell phones are certainly a valuable means of communication - but not at the cost of whole species and important habitats. Recycling programs do exist - one extensive program, which is discussed extensively in the National Geographic article, is Eco-Cell, an organization which has established partnerships with 46 zoos (at this writing) to manage the recycling of cell phones. The organization has established recycling centers in many states in the US, as well as in Australia and Canada. Even if there is no center near you, they accept phones directly at:
ECO-CELL
531 North Hite Avenue
Louisville, KY 40206
As an added bonus, part of their program is to donate funds to the recycling partners - currently, they donate up to $15 per phone (minimum payment $0.45). If you send them the phone directly, you may choose the recipient of the donation from a list on their site.
ECO-CELL is, naturally, not the only way to recycle your old phone. Many charities accept cell phones, and there are several other organizations specifically dedicated to cell phone recycling.
Links:
- Charitable Recycling
- EcoPhones
- Collective Good Mobile Phone Recycling
- Recycle First - Cell Phone Recycling
- Eco-Cell
Updated by Joe Dolson on 24 August, 2009
RSS Feed