Help Phi Theta Kappa "Wipe Out Wireless Waste"

Booneville. Miss.-- “Wipe Out Wireless Waste” is a campaign to recycle used wireless phones and generate proceeds for local community improvement and revitalization projects sponsored by Northeast Mississippi Community College’s Iota Zeta chapter of Phi Theta Kappa through Keep America Beautiful.

Collection boxes are located at the Booneville Area Chamber of Commerce, in Stringer Hall outside my office (122) and the Haney Union (outside the book store) on the Northeast campus in Booneville.

With more than 200 million wireless subscribers in the U.S. today, the need to keep used wireless phones out of local landfills is more important than ever. The “Wipe Out Wireless Waste” campaign makes it easy for anyone to recycle their mobile phone equipment, and in turn provides funding to Keep America Beautiful that supports diverse hands-on stewardship activities such as cleanups of public lands and waterways, tree and flower plantings, and recycling activities.

Cell phones are being discarded at a rate of 125 million phones a year, which result in over 65,000 tons of wireless waste. The average lifespan of a wireless phone is 9 – 18 months. The most eco-friendly thing you can do with an old phone is to reuse it. Recycling the phones ensures that the toxic materials they contain don’t end up in our land fills.

Unfortunately, many old phones wind up in landfills. Even phones that are turned in to recycling drives are often harvested for their most valuable parts, leaving most of the equipment (and some of the most dangerous materials) to still wind up in landfills. That’s why Keep America Beautiful has partnered with Sprint Nextel and ReCellular to create “Wipe Out Wireless Waste” - a ZERO WASTE solution to ease the growing electronics waste problem, and to raise funds for environmental and community improvement projects nationwide.

According to Northeast’s Phi Theta Kappa presidents Joel Barron and Cody Burchell of Booneville, “by recycling your own phones, and collecting them from friends, classmates, and others in your community, YOU can be part of the solution!’