Spotted this via a Google News Alert, about a group of students at Colorado State University who are making use of a national program run by Collective Good mobile phone recycling based in Boulder, to raise funds for Kiva loans.
Digging around a little indicates that Collective Good recycles cell phones to benefit a wide range of charities, of which Kiva is one, so
anyone in the USA with an old cell phone can take advantage of this service to (1) benefit Kiva and (2) ensure that if the phone is working it will most likely end up in the developing world, or, if it's not working, be disposed of properly in an environmentally safe fashion.
Cell phones dial up loans
CSU group helps get capital for developing countries
BY CARI MERRILL
In terms of capital for startup companies in the United States, $100 is equal to change found beneath the couch cushions.
But for entrepreneurs in developing countries, that same $100 provides an opportunity to create companies and better their economies.
And a group of Colorado State University students has joined the effort to help better the world's economy by collecting the common cell phone and turning it into cash for entrepreneurs a world away.
"We feel we're already in a place of privilege," said Joshua Eldridge, a graduate student in rangeland ecosystem science. "The loans are a method of empowerment for those people."
Students of the Social Sustainable Entrepreneurship class created Phones 4 Loans, an organization with the simple premise of collecting old cell phones and accessories that often end up in landfills and turning them into microfinance loans.
"It's simple," said Joe Thompson, a senior finance and real estate major, of the program. "It's something everyone's used; everyone has old cell phones."
The collected cell phones are essentially sold to CollectiveGood in Boulder, which, instead of giving the money directly to the students, donates the money to Kiva. Kiva, in turn, gives microfinance loans to entrepreneurs in developing countries.
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more:
http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080426/BUSINESS/804260339and there's more about the CSU student initiative at the CSU website:
http://www.newsinfo.colostate.edu/index.asp?url=news_item_display&news_item_id=204566237here is the CSU student group's website:
http://www.phones4loans.org/Collective Good's website is here:
http://www.collectivegood.com/index.asptheir FAQs state:
There are more than 500 million used mobile phones in the US sitting on shelves or in our landfills, and another 125 million will be added to the shelves or landfills this year alone! The problem is growing at a rate of more than 2 million phones per week, putting tons of toxic waste into our landfills daily. This mountain of toxic waste poses a major threat to the environment, and an equally large opportunity to re-channel these devices into productive reuse. Our program is based on the goal of diverting these useful devices from harming the environment, and helping charities raise money so they can pursue more of their good deeds. Please note that we also accept pagers and PDAs (like Palm Pilots) too
Kiva's charity ID number with Collective Good appears to be
417 and here's a link to the page you need to get to for donating a phone for Kiva:
http://www.collectivegood.com/donate2.asp?CHid=417Seems like a pretty easy way of doing something useful with that old cell phone, and they can even be dropped off at any Staples store or Fedex/Kinkos, or just mailed to Collective Good in Boulder.
P
