Recycling Your Old Mobile Phones

You should never throw a mobile phone into the trash. Just like computers, they are made of materials that are not good for the environment once they are in landfills. Plus, they are not biodegradable, so it will take thousands of years for them to break down. This leads to the question, “how do I recycle my old mobile phone?” There are lots of ways that you can do this.

Trade It In

Image by Phil Dragash via Flickr

Some mobile phone retailers will give you a credit toward your new phone if you are willing to trade in your old one. They know how to recycle it properly, and by offering this service, they can make sure that the environment stays safe. Plus, sometimes they are able to refurbish the phone and sell it at a discount to other users, so someone can benefit from it.

Sell It on the Internet

You might be able to make more money off of your phone if you sell it on the Internet. For instance, there is a high demand for Motorola Android phones. You can use Amazon, eBay, or any other auction site to get the job done.

Use It as a Toy

Kids love to pretend that they are grown up, so why not re-purpose your old cell phone as a toy. Just take out the battery so you don’t have to worry about them calling 911, and voila: you have a cheap toy that your kids will love.

There are lots of ways that you can recycle your old cell phone – creative ones, too. But whatever you do, don’t throw it in the trash. Everyone needs to work together to keep the world a safe place.

 

Viruses- What They Are and How to Protect Yourself Against Them

Computer viruses can cripple a computer system and cause the owner hundreds of dollars in repairs. Some are sophisticated while others are simple but just as deadly. The ILOVEYOU virus corrupted thousands of computer systems before fixed. There are a variety of viruses but the main ones are:

  • Traditional viruses that ride on the backs of legitamite programs. Each time the program run, so does the virus.
  • Email viruses. They often infect computers by attaching to an email and going viral when opened.
  • Worms come through computer networks and duplicate themselves.
  • Trojan Horse is a program that claims to be of legitimate use but hurts your entire system.

Protecting your computer system is possible if you follow certain guidelines.

  • Never open attachments if you don’t know who the sender is. If you do know the sender, but there is only a link as the message, do not open it as it may be a virus has hacked it’s way in to the senders email system.
  • Don’t buy any software that isn’t legitimate. Homemade DVDs are easier to plant a virus on.
  • Back up all software and files on a USB drive and external hard drive just in case your computer does get infected.
  • Buy Anti Virus software and install it as soon as possible. This software can protect the system by doing weekly or monthly scan for viruses and stopping any suspected viruses before they come in. Make sure the software is updated often as hundreds of new viruses crop up every year.