Don't forget to call your local women's shelter! They take working cell phones for battered women to have a lifeline in case of need. I love doing this because it's less clutter for me & I'm helping someone in need!

This is good information. We have a bunch of things like this in our "messy room" that I am going to start cleaning out next week. It's good to know where to take that kind of stuff instead of just throwing it away.

Also, remember that one man's trash is another man's treasure! Join your local group at Freecycle (http://www.freecycle.org/) or the ReUseIt Network (http://www.reuseitnetwork.org/). You can then post your miscellaneous items that you would like to give away (functioning or not) and see if someone can use it. I have been amazed to see what other people are excited to reuse! It is so nice to give these items a second life!

I forgot to mention that Hewlett Packard will provide customers with postage paid envelopes to recycle their used inkjet cartridges. See http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/environment/recycle/index.html to order envelopes.

Here's another tip which is great for animal lovers who inherit fur coats!
You can donate them to the Humane Society to be used as bedding for injured wildlife.

http://www.hsus.org/press_and_publications/press_releases/spring_cleaning_donate_fur_garments_to_wildlife_in_need.html

I love the idea of sending old cell phones to a women's shelter. I talked to a Sprint rep and she said that even without a service plan, if the phone is kept charged, you'll always be able to make a 911 call.

As Wendy said Freecycle is a great resource (for more than just electronics).

Here are a few more options for getting rid of cartridges:

The post office offers free plastic envelopes that are preaddressed and include prepaid postage. Just slip the cartridge in the bag and drop it in the mailbox.

Office Max will exchange one ream of recycled paper for each Dell, HP or Lexmark cartridge you bring in.

Office Depot will take Konica Minolta toner cartridges and give a $3. store credit to anyone with a service contract.
Refill your cartridges up to four times (unless the warranty advises against it .)
Staples and Dell are two companies that will refill them. It saves up to 90% of the cost of new.

I just read this in Hints from Heloise:

Call to Protect www.wirelessfoundation.org is a non-profit organization which refurbishes phones and donates them to survivors of domestic violence. The refurbished phones can only call 911 or domestic violence shelters.

What an excellent article. Thanks Karen for providing the various contacts for recycling!

Gary's last blog post..Where are the Blu-ray Digital Camcorders?

Thanks for the heads up on recycling especially the cell phones. I never knew that. Thanks a lot.

Nokia Tube's last blog post..Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

Great post and great links. It's so essential to deal with our waste in a more responsible manner.

For UK readers - Vodafone will take your own mobiles off you, recycle them and donate money to charity for every one you hand in. Now go and hunt down that old handset stuck at the back of your drawer…

To few people recycle there old gadgets, fortunately it is becoming easier as more place recycle

The Recycling Appeal UK collects mobile phones, PDAs and printer cartridges
http://www.recyclingappeal.com/

This is nice information. We have a group of things like this in our "messy room" that I am going to start clear out next week. It's very nice to know where to bring that kind of stuff instead of just throwing it away.

I usually keep old computers cus I'm weird like that, and prefer to use them for random stuff. But the other tips for recycling are very helpful, thanks! (I actually have an old tv sitting in my basement that I wasn't sure what to do with, heh).

A very useful article…There are lots of things at home that can be recycled. Thanks!

I usually give away old mobile phones to people who need them.