Floridians Can Honor 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, Help Domestic Violence Victims by Recycling Wireless Phones

TAMPA, Fla., April 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Floridians can honor the 40th anniversary of Earth Day (April 22) by recycling some of the most ubiquitous pieces of modern technology -- wireless phones -- at any Verizon Wireless store across the state.

Verizon Wireless HopeLine® recycling bins will accept phones from any carrier and any condition.  Through HopeLine, some phones are fully refurbished for use again by survivors of domestic violence.  

In other phones, individual parts are recycled and the funds generated are used to make cash grants to local domestic violence organizations.  These efforts conserve natural resources and help reduce electronic waste in Florida's landfills.

In Florida during the past year, more than 35,000 no-longer-used phones were recycled through HopeLine.  Nationally, millions of phones have been recycled since the program was initiated in 2000.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), for every one million cell phones recycled, 35,274 pounds of copper, 772 pounds of silver, 75 pounds of gold, and 33 pounds of palladium can be recovered, conserving natural resources, avoiding air and water pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

"The founders of Earth Day 40 years ago couldn't know that cellphones would be in the hands of hundreds of millions of Americans today, but they did have great forward vision in taking steps to protect our planet. We're proud that HopeLine plays a role in this 40-year tradition of conservation, and gives Florida wireless consumers an easy way to help the cause, too," said Pam Tope, Florida region president of Verizon Wireless.

"The HopeLine program not only helps our Florida environment and the whole planet, but also some of our citizens who are in the most need," Tope added.

In addition to recycling unused cellphones through the HopeLine program, Verizon Wireless provides the following tips for Floridians to celebrate 40 years of Earth Day and to be kind to the planet:

• Sign up for the Verizon Wireless Green Bill program which gives customers a useful way to access, organize and analyze account information, while saving paper by eliminating the monthly bill in your mailbox. To sign up, visit verizonwireless.com/myaccount.
• Use a power strip for your wireless phone or PDA chargers, and then make sure to switch it off when everything has been charged, so you don't use "phantom" energy.
• Use VZ Navigator and/or numerous other GPS applications to avoid getting lost and to save fuel when traveling.
• Work from home or a convenient location with the Verizon Wireless BroadbandAccess service. This way, you can create a mobile office to save gas and other commuting costs and resources.

For more information on Verizon Wireless products, services, HopeLine program and store locations, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or visit www.verizonwireless.com.

About Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable and largest wireless voice and 3G data network, serving more than 91 million customers.  Headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 85,000 employees nationwide, Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Vodafone (Nasdaq and LSE: VOD).  For more information, visit www.verizonwireless.com.  To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.

SOURCE Verizon Wireless

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