By: Caroline Cunha
VODAFONE PORTUGAL and nature conservation association Quercus promoted a joint campaign in Faro last week to raise awareness of the need to recycle mobile phones and their accessories.
Visitors to a specially developed stand at the Forum Algarve shopping centre were given a leaflet about the Re-utilize campaign, providing them with information about the recycling of mobile phones and their accessories at Vodafone shops, the negative effects on the environment of phones being discarded in the rubbish, how to save energy, how to make mobile phones last longer and how to minimise the environmental impact of mobile phone use.
After reading through the leaflet, visitors were asked to throw a small bean bag onto a game board containing a series of questions based on the information in the leaflet. If the player answered the question correctly, they were given a “green” gift, such as a Vodafone/ Quercus branded ruler or pencil made of recycled wood.
Vanda Marques of Quercus told The Resident: “We’ve had quite a positive response from visitors so far. The campaign is working because some people have told us that they never knew you could recycle mobile phones.”
The campaign will continue until the end of April, with the team visiting shopping centres around the country.
Statistics
Between April 2001 and March 2002, Vodafone Portugal recycled/reused 4.9 tons of phones and accessories.
Between April 2005 and March 2006, Vodafone Portugal recycled/ reused 23.4 tons of phones and accessories.
Considering the total mobile communications system and its annual usage, every one of us is responsible for the emission of a quantity of carbon dioxide equal to a road trip of 250 to 380km.
If a mobile phone is not discarded responsibly when it is no longer used, it can be a source of pollution for the air, soil and water.
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