U. S. Cellular Better Moments Blogger Brigade - Earth Day

Earth Day is coming up soon.  I try to celebrate Earth Day each year with my children.  I take this a great opportunity to educate them on ways to develop and practice "green" habits.  I have always tried to teach them to recycle and save energy.   They have learned to use our recycle bins when disposing of their trash.  We have also celebrated Earth Day by having 1 hour without using any kind of energy.  This included no lights, no TV, and no electronic games.  We used candles for lights and played a game together as a family.  We also finished the hour out by reading books.   Believe it or not, they survived with no power and we enjoyed our hour together.

In honor of Earth Day, U.S. Cellular encourages people to recycle their old electronic devices and is providing incentives to do so. Customers can get up to $250 when they trade in qualified smartphones - including Apple® iPhones - at U.S. Cellular retail locations through the company's Trade-in Program.  

Statistics on the numbers of electronics that are not being recycled are sobering; of the 141 million mobile phones that were discarded in 2009 (the most recent data available), only 12 million were recycled, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Thirty percent of people who do not recycle their used cell phones refrain from doing so because they don’t know where to recycle their devices, according to an online poll conducted by Earth911.

While recycling old devices is one way to be green, there are other ways to reduce, reuse and recycle from the palm of your hand with a 4G LTE network and a device such as the Apple iPhone® 5c or iPad Air. In honor of Earth Day, U.S. Cellular offers the following tips; apps and websites that will help people become more eco-friendly.

Have fun (and get rewarded) by going greener.
         Recyclebank.com provides actionable tips and advice to become more environmentally conscious.  Plus, users get rewarded with points (redeemable for grocery discounts, gift cards, etc.) by being green (recycling, using less water, etc.)
         The fun JouleBug app also provides valuable information about going green, and users can earn badges and compete with others to be the most eco-friendly.  JouleBug claims that users who follow their tips will save an average of $200 per year - which can make your wallet greener as well! 

Recycle more easily.
         The 1800Recycling app identifies nearby recycling locations based on ZIP code, and provides directions to the recycling centers and lists which materials they'll take.



Enjoy Earth Day and let me know how you celebrated! 

  Disclosure:  I am a compensated member of the U.S. Cellular Better Moments Blogger Brigade.  All opinions are my own.