Notes

What to Do With Your Old Phone or Computer Accessories

Long ago, mobile phones just look like mobile phones and laptops are plain black or white until people had been too creative and more intelligent to just settle with just that. Fast forward to what we have today.

Day by day, thousands of old phones and laptop accessories get discarded around the world. Cargos carrying tons of these gadgets and paraphernalia are being shipped to many countries every day. With lots of new accessories available in the market, our own outdated version may be considered a clutter if we continue to keep them, yet, also harmful if we only throw it out. What do we do with it then?

The Peterson Group, Taiwan-based distributor of mobile phone accessories and laptop paraphernalia has offered seminars on ways to discard these materials easily. These methods have now been incorporated with activities in many retail stores located in Jakarta, Indonesia, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Singapore.

What Should You Do

The following are some simple steps you can do yourself:

• Repair it. Most manufacturers have service centers who will be able to tell you if your mobile can be repaired. You can contact TPG for further questions.

• Pass it on. Maybe you have a family member of friend who needs a mobile. Ask around. (Just be sure you can take complaints when they find your phone to be a little outdated.)

• Donate it to a charity for reuse by people in need. Certain charities in Australia provide secondhand mobiles to those who can't otherwise access them. TPG is also accepting old phones to be reused by soldiers in Africa as means of communication to their loved ones. Of course, these phones will be checked for damaged and repaired.

• Donate to a school to raise funds. Some fundraisers have partnered with mobile phone resellers to raise funds for an organization. Most of these mobiles will be sold overseas into developing countries for reuse.

• There are companies who offer cash in return for old mobiles. Most of these mobiles will be sold overseas into developing countries for reuse. Most companies who sell personal electronics now have easily accessible recycling programs that readily accept their products along with its accessories. In most cases, your phone's charger, extra battery, headset, earpiece or other accessories can be turned in for recycling when you are ready to upgrade to a newer phone. A little warning though, these companies also have systems to know which gadget is fraud or not. You may want to insure your gadget to be authentic first.