GreenBuyback Blog

Cell phones may not be the first thing that pops in your head when you think about eco-consciousness, but they can actually be a great tool to help preserve the environment. Whether by buying a “green” phone or using the many sustainability apps available, you can make a difference. If you’re looking for a new phone and want it to be as green as possible, there’s a series of things that you should keep in mind.

1) Materials

Many phones on the market today are made of recycled materials. Samsung has been a pioneer in manufacturing phones made almost entirely of waste material, such as the Galaxy Exhilarate, the Replenish and the Evergreen. These models are also much cheaper than the latest iPhone. Make sure that you always research the options out there, many websites exist that can help you compare prices and information like GreenMatch. If you want to really step up your game, you could consider buying a solar-powered phone such as the Micromax, which is also very cheap (around 40$) because it was created for developing areas with low access to electricity.

2) Battery

Charging your phone every few hours does the environment (and you) no favors. The longer your phone’s battery lasts, the more energy efficient you’re going to be. Plus, you won’t have to worry about your phone abandoning you mid-day. Some phones, such as the Evergreen, also notify you when they’re done charging, so that you don’t waste any energy.

3) Multi-functionality

The more functionalities your smartphone includes, the fewer gadgets you will need to use on the side. If your phone has a good camera, radio, calculator, maps et cetera, you won’t need to buy any extra devices. By consolidating all of your gadgets in one, your impact on the environment will inevitably be lower.

4) Buy used

Producing a cell phone always requires the use of hazardous materials and fossil fuels, so buying an old one means helping generate a little less pollution. Nowadays, people tend to replace their phone just to get the latest upgrade, regardless of whether it’s broken or malfunctioning. Many individuals choose to sell their cell phones to Green Buyback to help them recover cash and protect the environment. That means the market is full of hardly used phones you can buy, thus extending their life and helping lower the disastrous amount of e-waste.

5) Don’t forget to recycle!

If you made up your mind about which new phone to buy, it’s now time for you to decide what to do about the old one. That decision is an easy one: recycle. You can sell your old phone back for cash, even if it’s broken. It makes absolutely no sense to simply trash your phone, when you could easily sell it. Even if it’s not worth much, you’ll still be doing the environment a favor by not contributing to e-waste and pollution.

The Electronics Recycling Predicament

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<img src="https://blog.greenbuyback.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/The-Electronics-Recycling-Predicament-Infographic.png" >The Electronics Recycling Predicament infographic by GreenBuyBack. Don't contribute to e-waste, make sure to sell your cell phone and electronics at <a href="https://greenbuyback.com/">greenbuyback.com</a>. Help protect our environment, and get paid to do it.

Our customers have previously sold us thousands of damaged cell phones and tablets. Sometimes these sales come with a story via email or phone call. We wanted to outline the top ten issues we have seen when we receive a damaged device. Hopefully you can keep you electronic device safe by reading this top ten list. If you do find yourself with a damaged device, you can always still recoup some cash for it by selling your phone to us here.

Top Ten Ways Devices Were Broken:

10. Sports Accidents

What could possible go wrong on the way to game? We have seen devices severely damaged by sports equipment that shifted during the ride to the game. We have also seen damaged phones come in from people that left their phone in their pocket during a softball game. GreenBuyback Tip: Leave the phone in the car during the game! (make sure if you leave your phone in the car it is not too hot!)

9. Pets

We have personally seen items sold to us that had dog bite marks in the phone! These devices do not make great chew toys we can assure you! Keep all devices out of the reach of animals. Chewing on them is not the only way an animal could ruin it.

8. Pockets

The dreaded #Bendgate! We have seen phones come in that have been severely bent by sitting on them when they were in someone’s pocket. Keep that protective case on and try to keep it out of your pocket. It doesn’t take much force to sit on an iPhone 6 to ruin a great phone.

7. Selfie Drops
Selfies.. We’ve all done it. Unfortunately for some people accidents do happen! Dropping that phone from a high area can easily shatter the LCD and cause some major issues for the phone. We would recommend a trusty selfie stick for those selfie moments! We actually picked up a selfie stick for the office to play with and they work well!

6. Kids
Be careful if your child gets a hold of your phone! We have seen water damage caused by drool or liquid baby foods on devices that were traded in. Babies also have a tendency to throw objects. Be careful if you let your child watch their favorite YouTube channel on your phone or tablet. We would recommend a super heavy-duty case if you are letting them play with your device.

5. Attempting to repair
Why would you pay that guy in the mall to fix your screen? You’ve seen the parts on eBay for $2 so what could be the big deal?  A simple fix can turn into quite the nightmare if you attempt to repair your damaged device with no experience. We would recommend sticking with professionals to repair your device. Although there are good tutorials on the web, if you are not trained, you could cause even more damage by attempting to repair your device yourself.

4. Rooting / Jailbreaking Improperly
It sounds simple – and everyone knows someone in their circle who has a rooted/jailbroken device. This process can actually require a lot of research to be done properly. In some cases if per formed improperly, you can actually brick the device. This is quite an expensive mistake to make. We will still buy your bricked device but would recommend either not jailbreaking at all or turning to an expert before doing so.

3. Workplace Accident
A lot of our damaged items are due to workplace accidents. We have seen phones covered in paint, phones completely soaked with water still inside them, phones that had been run over, phones dropped great heights, and much more. Make sure to keep your protective case on and be careful at work!

2. Water Damage
We are not sure exactly what happened, but we know a lot of damaged items that we purchase are water damaged. We have heard stories of drops in showers, lakes, pools, hot tubs and more. Spills inside of bags and purses where tablets and phones were stored have also ruined some devices. Always remember that your device is very sensitive to water. Even the smallest drop inside of the charging port can potentially ruin your device. Keep them away from liquid!

1. Road Rage
These are the craziest items we purchase. These devices have been left on top of cars, taken a bad ride on a freeway, and completely demolished. We receive many items that have been crushed.. some still power on! In these cases we try to salvage the parts but we always still buy them back!

Hopefully you are reading this for entertainment. If you have a broken device and want to find out how much it is worth visit our website anytime:

www.greenbuyback.com

Hey GAMERS! If you haven't heard already we are currently looking for ACTIVE streamers and teams that are seeking sponsorship! We have seen a lot of activity and views on our sponsorship page and we wanted to thank you for it. We appreciate all of our fans and customers following and interacting with our sponsored gamer's streams.

Unfortunately we live in a world where violence and scams occur on a daily basis. When it comes to selling your electronics we urge you to do it in a safe, secure manner. We recently read this story where a young man was robbed at gunpoint in Harlem when he was meeting up with them to sell his Macbook Pro. If you are going to meet someone that you met online to sell/purchase a used device, meet them in a public place! Our advice would be to meet them at the Verizon Wireless or Apple store and ensure before you hand over the cash that the device is not only real, but that you can also activate it.

GreenBuyback has created an alternative method to meeting up with random strangers to sell your cell phones. Our website gives you the ability to find out instantly what your old device is worth, and best of all, sell it without having to leave your home or jeopardize your safety. With out website you can check out, generate a prepaid UPS label, and send in your phone. Once we receive your phone, we cut you the check or PayPal you the same day that we receive it.

You can always turn to GreenBuyback to sell your old cell phones. Stay safe!