The Cellular Revolution has certainly impacted the world as millions of people now frequently use cell phones. Because of this technology being so new and so rapidly changing with new trends and improved features, cell phone users end up replacing their phones quite frequently. It has been estimated that the average user will upgrade to a new phone every 12 to 18 months. With the sheer volume of users today this means that there is a lot of cell phone waste being generated.

The average cell phone user does not typically take into account how much the waste of their discarded phones impacts the environment. Many users simply throw their obsolete cell phone away which eventually brings them to landfills where the metals within the phone can corrode and leak into the ground. Most of the elements within a cell phone do not decompose therefore with increasing waste the level of harmful toxins also increases which can contaminate water supplies, soil, and even the air. The parts that do decompose create methane gas, which is even more damaging than CO2 to the environment and greatly impacts global warming.

Proper ways of disposing of old or damaged cell phones are actually quite easy for the consumer. Simply returning it to the store from which it was originally purchased is one of the best ways of disposal. Many stores resell obsolete products to developing countries as a means of recycling them. Other stores melt down and reclaim the metals, while others have these devices recycled through the growing industry of electronics recycling. This also includes the various accessories as they too need to be properly disposed of.

Aside from the waste that obsolete cell phones generate there are also negative effects created by using current phones. Right now the jury is still out on the full environmental effects of radio frequencies and radiation cause by cellular technology. It may not be until the current adopters of this technology reach middle-age or later before some of the effects of daily use are discovered in humans. It has been witnessed that farm livestock experience many birth problems as well as a decline in their general health while simply moving them away from cellular towers leads to nearly immediate improvements to their health. Unfortunately, there have not been any conclusive studies on such effects to properly decide on the level of impact cellular technology has on living creatures.

Cell phones have quickly become an important part of our society's daily lives. The positive impacts it has had on communication are hardly debatable however the benefits of this new technology comes as a very dear price if we do not work together to properly solve the dangerous problems that have arisen.

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