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Dear Conservation Partners:
I hope you had a wonderful summer. Lindsey, the boys and I made the most of it and had a great time by getting back to the basics-swimming and short trips around the state of Kentucky. The recession, while causing much anxiety, carried with it the benefit of clarity and we were reminded that the best things in life are free. As things improve, I aim to remember this lesson and keep it simple.
Lately, I have fielded many calls from people wanting to know the difference between ECO-CELL and its competitors. Our new web page, due out in early November, is focused on showcasing these differences as our industry becomes more crowded. In short, ECO-CELL is very different in its business philosophy and approach to conservation. Our company isn't as flashy or exciting, but we feel that it is better to be direct. We don't use sales gimmicks like the $300 phone to entice people to join our program nor do use SPAM to recruit new participants. All in all, ECO-CELL is different because we offer the most environmentally friendly, easy to use, and ethical cell phone recycling program available.
Thanks again for your participation. It is everything to us. |
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Louisville Zoo-"Trick or Treat" and TV Spot
ECO-CELL's very first customer was the Louisville Zoo and the Zoo continues to help pave the way for our cell phone recycling program.
 This year, we are a sponsor of the Zoo's World's Largest Halloween Party." This year's theme is "Go Green for Halloween." In collaboration with E.ON-U.S. (an energy services company headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky), we are giving away reusable tote bags to be used as trick or treat/grocery bags for the first 1,000 trick or treaters that bring in an old cell phone.
Also, here is a great TV spot about the cell phone recycling program at the Louisville Zoo. Check it out!
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Clean Water is a Human Right
Green Village - Green Future
 ECO-CELL proudly announces a new partnership with Green Village - Green Future. This 501(c)(3), founded by a Kentuckian, focuses on environmentally-responsible village development in rural East Africa. Green Village is partnering with ECO-CELL to raise funds to provide clean drinking water to African families in 2010.
For more information about this important non-profit effort, please visit Green Village Green Future's website.
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Toronto Zoo Quick Facts and Update on Sadiki
The Toronto Zoo has participated in our program since early in 2006. When the zoo rolled out its program they decided to give it a face and chose Sadiki, an infant Gorilla. To date the Toronto Zoo has recycled an estimated 12,000 phones.
Sadiki is now 4.5 years old and is considered the most entertaining of the Toronto Zoo gorilla troop. People love to watch him, he is well trained, and the keepers are very proud of the enrichment program specifically... he is smart, naughty, and very healthy.
The cell phone program at Toronto Zoo and Sadiki have grown together, and Sadiki has been and will continue to be an amazing ambassador for lowland gorilla conservation in Africa.
Sadiki at beginning of program Sadiki now
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Cell Phone Industry: Highlights and Lowlights
Two stories got our attention regarding cell phone companies and how they approach the environment.
Highlight!
The Samsung Reclaim is made from recycled plastic and it comes in a box that's also made from
recycled paper. What's more, the ink on the user manual is soy-based.
Unfortunately a prominent cell phone service provider has
attached itself with an Anti-Environment event called the Friends of
America Rally. The showcase sponsor was Massey Energy, a company which
in 2008 paid $20 million in fines to the EPA to resolve more than 4,500
violations of the Clean Water Act for polluting waterways in West
Virginia and Kentucky with coal slurry and waste water. The Friends of
America Rally featured speeches by global warming denier Lord
Christopher Monckton and the Science & Public Policy Institute
(global warming skeptics).
 "We
are going to have Hank Williams Jr. and a very good time but we are
also going to learn how environmental extremists and corporate America
are both trying to destroy your job."
--Don Blankenship
Massey Energy, CEO
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 ECO-CELL is the premiere cell phone recycling program for
environmentally minded fundraisers. Our passion is to provide our
conservation partners with the most profitable, easy to use and
environmentally sound cell phone recycling program possible.
We recognize that we are in the midst of an e-waste crisis. That
is why we designed a program that encourages organizations to collect
all used cell phones and accessories, including batteries.
From the start, we knew this approach would take away from our
profits. However, we have always maintained that this endeavor is about
a lot more than just collecting the 'profitable' used cell phones. The
further we get into this endeavor and the more people we come in
contact with, the more we realize just how much more there really is. |
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 ECO-CELL is on Facebook! If you are interested in getting and sharing ideas about how to raise collection numbers and promote your collection program, join our facebook page. There, we can communicate with one another, share ideas and basically network. Also, we want to get to know
you and learn about your organizations; we feel we are joined in a
common endeavor -- to promote conservation, raise funds and raise
awareness of the link between consumerism and how it affects people,
animals and the environment. So, tell us what you care about!
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QUOTE OF THE SEASON
Our grandfathers were less well-housed, well-fed, well-clothed than we are.
The strivings by which they bettered their lot are also those which deprived us of Passenger pigeons. Perhaps we now grieve because we are not sure, in our hearts, that we have gained by the exchange.
The gadgets of industy bring us more comforts than the pigeons did, but do they add as much to the glory of the spring?
-- Aldo Leopold
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E-Waste Legislation
on the Books
I found this information in the September 2009 E-Scrap News.
It is a quick rundown of e-waste legislation in the works. E-waste
legislation is in its infancy but it is imperative that more
comprehensive guidelines be established as we deploy more technology.
California:
AB147 Requires electronics manufacturers to provide information to
the state about hazardous materials in their products (awaits third
senate reading)
Hawaii:
HB1809 Amends current state program by adding televisions to the
recycling system. Also, deletes the annual sales of specialized
computers provision for manufacturers of electronic devices and
requires that all recycling programs for electronic devices be fully
implemented and operational by January 1, 2010.
New Hampshire:
HB338 Establishes a landfill proposal and incinerator ban on video display media recorder/players and computers
HB423 Requires state to develop an outreach campaign to disseminate information on recycling materials, including e-waste |
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ECO-CELL Silverback Charities
Congrats to all our partners who have collected 1,000 phones or more! All of them, in their own way, seek to teach or raise awareness. We thank them for that. Silverback partners enjoy a minimum of $.45 for every phone regardless of condition, and free, customized cell phone collection boxes.
- Lion Country Safari
- St. Louis Zoo
- Alley Cat Advocates
- American Legion-Nassau County
- American Legion Post 25
- Bluegrass Pride
- Calgary Zoo
- Center for Women and Families
- Cincinnati Zoo
- Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
- Commonwealth Credit Union (for charity acct)
- Como Park Zoo and Conservatory
- Crusade for Children - S. Oldham Fire Dept.
- Daughters of the American Revolution-Olathe Chapter
- Denver Zoo
- Dian Fossey Gorilla Foundation International
- Dollars for Darfur
- Fondation du Centre de la Nature
- Future Farmers of America - Missouri
- Fossil Rim Wildlife Ctr.
- Foundation for Retinal Research (Isabelle's Eyes)
- National Zoo
- Goodwill Bluegrass
- Goodwill Indiana
- Goodwilll Louisville
- Great Ape Trust of Iowa
- Happy Hollow Park & Zoo
- Henry Vilas Zoo
- Houston Zoo
- Living Desert Zoo
- Louisville Zoo
- Mariah Saves Gorillas
- Orangutan Conservancy
- Oregon Zoo
- Penn State Geography Class
- Philadelphia Zoo
- Phoenix Zoo
- Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium
- San Diego Zoo
- Santa Barbara Zoo
- St. Joseph Children's Home
- STAND - Student-led Division of Genocide Intervention Network
- Toronto Zoo
- Tulsa Zoo & Living Museum Friends
- TWIGS of Kosair Children's Hospital
- Wildlife WayStation
- Zoo Boise
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- ECO-CELL takes everything, including batteries and accessories and make sure they are either recycled or disposed of properly.
- Silverback Partners get .45/phone regardless of the age or condition of the phone.
- As it stands, Blackberry devices have the most fundraising potential. These smartphones work on multiple networks and have a high reuse value.
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