Posts Tagged ‘Cell Phone Recycling’

May
16

Zack Morris is calling…and he wants his phone back.

Posted by in Africa,Conservation,Endangered Species,Gorilla,What You Can Do

If you had the privilege of growing up in the days of Saved by the Bell and other memorable TV shows of the 1990′s then you know exactly what I mean by a “Zack Morris Phone”.

Zack Morris and his 1990′s cell phone. Photo courtesy of zomm.com.

And whether you can believe it or not, some people still have these phones tucked away in their closets, shoe boxes, garages, you name it…we know they are out there. Although we understand that you like hanging onto your Zack Morris phones and other old, discarded cell phones, we think that you may just love gorillas and chimpanzees more. For that reason, you should bring your old phone to the Zoo this Saturday, May 18th and recycle it at the main entrance to receive a discounted admission ticket to enter the Zoo that day!

I never thought I would be writing a blog about the conservation of gorillas and chimpanzees and be able to mention Zack Morris, but somehow I did it…and it kind of makes sense.

 

Old Zack Morris Phone + Recycling at the Zoo this Saturday, May 18th (9am-3pm)= Discounted Zoo admission AND helping to save animals in Central and West Africa like chimps and gorillas who suffer from the mining of materials which are in our cell phones.

 

 

By recycling your cell phone this Saturday, May 18th at the Zoo you not only spare a few dollars on your admission into the Zoo to celebrate Endangered Species Day (hey-you could use those extra few bucks to buy yourself a few seasons of Saved by the Bell on DVD…I checked…Amazon has them for $2.03), you also help animals like gorillas and chimps who live in areas of Africa where materials for your cell phone are mined.

Recycled phones! Bring yours to the Zoo on Saturday, May 18th from 9am-3pm and receive a discounted ticket to the Zoo!

By recycling cell phones we lower the number of materials that are taken from gorilla and chimpanzee habitat, which directly helps protect endangered species!

Event in a nutshell:

What: Endangered Species Day-bring your old cell phone to be recycled and receive a discounted admission ticket to the Zoo. One discounted ticket per every phone recycled.

Where: Houston Zoo-Cell phone recycling table in front of main entrance.

Who: Everyone!

When: Saturday, May 18th from 9am-3pm

Why: To save endangered species like gorillas and chimpanzees by recycling cell phones!

 

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Mar
21

Houston Aeros Cell Phone Drive

Posted by in Animal Origins & Fun Facts,Central America,Chimpanzee,community-based conservation,Conservation,Endangered Species,Gorilla,What You Can Do

Spring Break is probably the busiest week of the year for many of us. The zoo is full of visiting guests, families are traveling and the Houston Aeros Hockey Team played 6 home games in 8 nights.

Not only did the Houston Aeros win 5 of those 6 home games, they also assisted the Houston Zoo in our most successful recycled cell phone collection drive ever! Just for general reference, the zoo collected nearly 1,200 phones in 2011. During the week of March 10-18 of this year – the Houston Aeros collected 758 phones before their games at the Toyota Center!

Looks like someone just recycled Edward from Twilight. Score one for Team Jacob

Help Wildlife in the Congo:

Why recycle your cell phone? First, it can help the environment by recycling hazardous waste but it also may help animals in the wild. Columbite-tantalite, or Coltan for short, is a dull metallic ore found in major quantities in the eastern areas of the African Congo. It is used in cell phones, laptops, pagers and other electronic devices. When refined, coltan becomes metallic tantalum, a heat resistant powder that can hold a high electrical charge.  Some types of Coltan mining may occur illegally in protected lands all across the Congo which in turn put wildlife such as Elephants and Gorillas of the Congo region at risk. Eighty percent of the world’s known coltan supply is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There, it is mined by hand by groups of men digging basins in streams, scraping away dirt to get to the muddy coltan underneath. Recycling unused cell phones can help protect the wildlife, since reuse of the phones results in the need for fewer new ones, which reduces the need for coltan mining.
 
Donate your cell phone to the Houston Zoo and the Zoo will have it recycled ensuring that most of these cell phones and their accessories will be reused or properly disposed of.
 
A big thank you to the Houston Aeros and Aeros staff for all their help and support for the Houston Zoo. There are 7 more home games before the season ends on April 15th and the Houston Aeros start their playoff run to the Calder Cup Trophy. Check out their schedule and support Aeros hockey.

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Jun
29

I am very dissapointed with you

Posted by in Africa,Chimpanzee,Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,What You Can Do

How is that Houston is not on the list of the top ten places for recycling cell phones in 2010? Have you not been listening to us? Have you not visited Willie the Chimpanzee in African Forest and said to yourself “what can I do to help wildlife”? Recycling cell phones help keep wildlife in Africa safe(r). Seems bizarre, but it’s true.

Here are a list of the cities and institutions who have cast shame upon you and will probably do so again in 2011 if you do not go home and empty your drawers of all unneeded cell phones immediately. Numbers to the right are how many they collected for recycling.

  1. Cincinnati Zoo, 10365
  2. Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, 5061
  3. San Diego Zoo, 2611
  4. Calgary Zoo, 2510
  5. Louisville Zoo, 2484
  6. Philadelphia Zoo, 1904
  7. Lion Country Safari, 1626
  8. Boys and Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico, 1626
  9. Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International (Zoo Atlanta), 1535
  10. Bluegrass PRIDE, 1482

 

How is it that a canadian city, someone who has pride in Bluegrass and a handful of zoos in cities smaller than ours managed to collect more cell phones than Houston – we were around #15 at 1,150 phones recycled in 2010 by the way. There are 2 million of you living outside our doors, and everyone of you has a phone!

Well, Houston can do better and our zoo has a special drop box at the front gate for your unwanted cell phones, digital cameras, iPods, laptops, MP3′s, portable hard drives and handheld game systems or you can simply mail them to the Houston Zoo. How about running a company cell phone drive? Boy Scouts? Summer Camp Program? Come on, I know these broken electornics are just lying around in your house reminding you about that bad purchase or how you dropped your phone in a bowl of tomato soup!

I will say this one time and one time only Houstonians:

Why recycle your cell phone? First, it can help the environment by recycling hazardous waste but it also may help animals in the wild. Columbite-tantalite, or Coltan for short, is a dull metallic ore found in major quantities in the eastern areas of the African Congo. It is used in cell phones, laptops, pagers and other electronic devices. When refined, coltan becomes metallic tantalum, a heat resistant powder that can hold a high electrical charge. 
Some types of Coltan mining may occur illegally in protected lands all across the Congo which in turn put wildlife such as Elephants and Gorillas of the Congo region at risk. Eighty percent of the world’s known coltan supply is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There, it is mined by hand by groups of men digging basins in streams, scraping away dirt to get to the muddy coltan underneath. Recycling unused cell phones can help protect the wildlife, since reuse of the phones results in the need for fewer new ones, which reduces the need for coltan mining.

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Apr
23

Cell Phone Recycling on Earth Day

Posted by in Africa,Featured,What You Can Do

 

cpdbbongoCell Phone Recycling: Help the environment by recycling hazardous waste. Cell phones contain a number of hazardous substances that can seriously impact the environment. Donate your cell phone to the Houston Zoo and the Zoo will have it recycled ensuring that most of these cell phones and their accessories will be reused or properly disposed of.

Sending your unwanted cell phones to the Houston Zoo will help provide funds that will benefit wildlife conservation at the Houston Zoo’s wildlife conservation efforts. The Houston Zoo works with recycling organizations that will accept these products and return funds to the zoo for the parts they are able to re-use in their products.

Help Wildlife in the Congo: Why recycle your cell phone? First, it can help the environment by recycling hazardous waste but it also may help animals in the wild. Columbite-tantalite, or Coltan for short, is a dull metallic ore found in major quantities in the eastern areas of the African Congo. It is used in cell phones, laptops, pagers and other electronic devices. When refined, coltan becomes metallic tantalum, a heat resistant powder that can hold a high electrical charge.  Some types of Coltan mining may occur illegally in protected lands all across the Congo which in turn put wildlife such as Elephants and Gorillas of the Congo region at risk. Eighty percent of the world’s known coltan supply is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There, it is mined by hand by groups of men digging basins in streams, scraping away dirt to get to the muddy coltan underneath. Recycling unused cell phones can help protect the wildlife, since reuse of the phones results in the need for fewer new ones, which reduces the need for coltan mining.

The Houston Zoo has a recycling bin in our Natural Selections Gift Shop for collection of unwanted cell phones, batteries, and chargers or they can be mailed to:
 
Houston Zoo Inc.
Cell Phone Recycle
1513 Cambridge
Houston, TX  77030
 
The Houston Zoo is working with Eco-Cell and will donate 100% of the funds raised to support wildlife conservation programs through our Naturally Wild Conservation Program which currently oversees nearly two dozen wildlife and habitat conservation efforts in ten countries. Items collected will be sold, refurbished, or recycled. Damaged or obsolete phones will be safely recycled in accordance with all applicable environmental guidelines.

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