WHEN it is time to bid your mobile phone goodbye, don?t just put it with your other trash that will most likely end up in a dumpsite.
Though most mobile phone manufacturers are careful to minimize the use of toxic chemicals and metals in their products, there are still elements that are necessary in making the battery and the phone itself that should not be disposed of mindlessly anywhere.
Let the experts dispose of it properly, perhaps even recycle some parts. You will be doing yourself a huge favor as you will prevent some potentially harmful substances from being carelessly released into the atmosphere.
Proper disposal is not as difficult as you might think. If you go to Glorietta, for example, you will find that Globe Telecom has placed, in strategic locations like at the foot of an escalator, clearly marked containers where you can drop your phones that have outlived their usefulness.
Sony Ericsson shops also have containers where you can give your SE mobile a proper ?burial.? Nokia, as previously reported in this column, has its own retrieval scheme.
In a media statement, Globe said it launched the cellular phone recycling campaign to help protect the environment. The program encourages the public to recycle or donate not just old phones but also PDAs (personal digital assistants), chargers and batteries. Recycling bins were initially placed in various Ayala Malls but will soon be also found in major Globe business centers.
Globe said the recycling program aimed to educate people about the potential harm that mobile phones could have on the environment. ?Cellphones have parts that are toxic when released to the environment, like circuit boards that contain components like arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury; and plastic parts that sometimes contain brominated flame retardant,? the network said.
It estimated that some 55.8 million Filipinos own mobile phones. It said that the number was growing fast. ?The soaring number of cellphone users in the country and the shorter replacement cycle of cellphone use, which is around 18 months, are factors that made their disposal a growing concern,? Globe said.
So when you have a mobile phone that has completely expired or a battery that cannot be recharged anymore, visit Ayala Malls or shops selling your mobile?s brand and drop it in their recycling bins.
Business unfriendly
Jannette Sagun of Pasig City decided to start her own business ?encouraged by all the talk that this government is supportive of SMEs (small and medium enterprises) and budding entrepreneurs like me.? But, she said, her experience made her conclude the declarations were simply empty rhetoric.
Businesses, of course, would have to start by registering their business names. ?If you go to the DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) website or the DTI office, you find announcements encouraging would-be entrepreneurs to use the online facility to register to (minimize) red tape and make things easier for them,? Sagun said.
However, Sagun said, while registering online was easy, getting the certificate of registration was another story. ?I had to wait for four hours to get a certificate which had been duly approved online,? she said. Apparently, there was only one person handling the task of issuing the certificate and she had to take her lunch break at 12 noon then leave by 3 p.m. Sagun said the DTI satellite office she went to closed at 3:30 p.m.
Although she eventually got her certificate of registration, Sagun had to repeat her ordeal when she changed her business address from Pasig City to San Juan City. She filed for a change in business information through the DTI online facility on July 6, but as of July 24 had yet to hear from the agency.
Sagun said she could not get a mayor?s business permit and register her business with the Bureau of Internal Revenue without the DTI certificate. She said when she called DTI, she was referred to several persons before finally getting somebody who promised to check on the status of her application. It is a promise that remains unfulfilled.
Sagun said that as a taxpayer, she felt she deserved better services. As a budding entrepreneur, she found out what kind of government support she could expect. Sagun said she thought DTI would be a more organized and efficient agency compared to the others. ?Now I truly dread the time I have to deal with the other government offices.?
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