Most of the time a trip to the ATM means draining money from your bank account, but if it’s a visit to the newly debuted EcoATM that you’re planning, you could actually end up with more money to your name. The EcoATM doesn’t withdraw cash but instead accepts used cellphones (we’ve all got one in a drawer somewhere), assesses their secondary market value, and offers up gift cards, trade-ups or charitable donations for the device.

The idea isn’t so different from the take back programs that are now being offered at some major electronics retail stores like Best Buy, but EcoATM hopes that the convenience of being able to visit a machine, get a quick estimate on value, and receive tangible rewards for the effort will convince more consumers to recycle their cellphones. And if they’re successful, the positive environmental effect could be huge; more than 100 million cellphones are thrown away in the United States every year and they leach toxic chemicals into landfills. Worse yet, the components that need to mined to make cellphones are wasted, instead of being reused by manufacturers who can avoid further mining—a problem EcoATM could be instrumental in solving. Click here to read more

Powered by Bookmarkify™