Disposing of your old or used smartphone should be done with caution. If you throw it in the trash, there's a chance it could lead to accidents.
Aside from endangering yourself, improper smartphone disposable can also harm the environment. You don't need to discard your old phone yet. Even a really old phone still has plenty of strong technology. It can be used in several ways. However, you should properly dispose of your old phone if you don't want to reuse it. We'll show how!
How To Properly Dispose Old Smartphones?
A road sign arning against pedestrians focusing on their smartphones is pictured on February 2, 2016 near the old town in Stockholm.
According to Economic Times, smartphones and other gadgets contain harmful substances. This is why knowing how to properly dispose of your electronic devices once you no longer need them is important.
This is because they undergo a series of quality and technical checks. You can either contact the manufacturer of your smartphone, ask a third-party firm, or refurbish your device on your own. Aside from refurbishing, How To Geek provided two more ways how to discard your old smartphone safely:
- Donation: If you are not expecting your old smartphone to return a portion of your money, then the best thing you can do is donate it to charities.
- Recycling: If you're tech-savvy and want to get the most out of your old handset, you can recycle components used as spare parts.
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What to Do Before Disposing of Old Smartphones?
Tarek Maassarani, who adopts a low consumption and carbon footprint lifestyle, shows an old iPhone smartphone that he says he used until it was completely worn out before replacing, at his friend's home in Washington, DC, on September 13, 2019. - US President Donald Trump's administration has made no secret of its disdain for climate science.
Before discarding your old smartphone, there are some things you need to do to ensure that you won't lose anything very important:
- Before donating or refurbishing your smartphone, you must remove your SIM and SD cards because they contain essential files, contacts, messages, photos, etc.
- If you're using your smartphone to access bank accounts and online wallets, you must sign them all out manually to prevent other people from having the chance to access them.
- For those with very important data, such as contacts, personal photos, and other details, the best thing you can do is back up your data.
- Once you're sure all your data and files are transferred or have proper backup, you can start factory resetting your device. To add more data security, you can encrypt your smartphone before conducting the factory reset.
These are just some things you must do before disposing of your used smartphone. To learn more tips, you can click this link.
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