Cut The Cord

Sometimes having a blog is like putting yourself out there, naked, for all of the world to see. I have confessed to all types of sorted and gossipy details about myself. Here comes my newest little secret.

I have cords. I have a lot of cords in my house. So many that I had to designate a drawer in the kitchen just to hold the cords for our portable devices.



What is a gruppie to do with all of those cords?

A bunch of these cords belong to two old cell phones. Power cords, car chargers, hands-free ear pieces. You get the idea. Each of the phones can hold a charge for maybe two hours at best. That doesn't work for me, so the phones had to be replaced.

Now the offending cell phones are sitting in the drawer, tangled in their cords with little hope for the future.

I have spent lots of time online searching for what to do with these phones and cords and there is no easy solution. One company will "recycle" the cell phones but not the cords. I put recycle in quotes because there is not really way to recycle the phones in the sense that they are "squished up and made into new phones" as my Little Guy likes to believe. Most "recycled" phones will likely end-up in an underdeveloped nation polluting their land.

Then there is the idea of donating the phones to the military stationed abroad or a women's shelter. What good would cell phones that have to live attached to a cord do?

In the deep, dark, cobwebby back of my mind I remember hearing about groups that refurbish old cell phones. Where are they?

My cell phone was less than five years old, rarely used and had blown through two batteries. I didn't want a new shiny model. In fact, I could care less. I felt pressured by shoddy manufacturing practices to create more trash and become more of a consumer.

Any suggestions about what to do with my old cell phones and cords would be greatly appreciated.