I’ve been a long time customer of Verizon Wireless (I’ve been with them since I was 16 – before it was Verizon!) but I have not know about their Hope Line Phone Recycling and Reuse Program until now.   I had the opportunity to learn about it when I was at Blogher.

There are several programs that will recycle your cell phones for no charge but I like this program because it is free to you but it also is a way to help someone else.  With hardly any trouble to you, you are able to ship your phone back to Verizon when it is no good to you and it could help to save a life.

Domestic violence affects nearly 1 in 4 women, 1 in 9 men, and more than 3 million children.  You can help put an end to domestic violence

Here’s how:

Donating an old wireless phone to HopeLine® from Verizon is as easy as following these four steps:

1. Disconnect the device with your wireless provider.
2. Turn the phone’s power off.
3. Make sure the phone’s batteries are installed in the phone you are returning. Please do not include any loose batteries.
4. Please remove storage cards (microSD, etc.) and SIM cards from phones prior to donation. Also be sure to return any travel chargers or other accessories that came with the devices.
5. Seal the package and adhere the free postage-paid label to the box/envelope and drop it in the mail. To view and print the mailing label, you may need to download Adobe Acrobat Reader.
6. Don’t forget to include your return address on the shipping label.

Why bother?  Here’s what your phone can do through HopeLine:

• HopeLine gives consumers a way to help prevent domestic violence by donating no-longer used wireless phones and accessories from any service provider in any condition by mail, in Verizon Wireless Communications Store or at special events held throughout the year.

• Phones donated to HopeLine from Verizon can help victims of abuse feel safer and less isolated by giving them a way to call emergency or support services, employers, family and friends.

• Wireless phones given to HopeLine are refurbished and sold for reuse, generating proceeds for the program. Refurbished phones – complete with 3,000 minutes of wireless service – are provided to local domestic violence organizations or local government and law enforcement agencies for use with their domestic violence clients. If donated phones are unsalvageable, they are recycled in an environmentally sound way under a zero landfill policy.

• Phone donations given locally benefit victims of abuse within that geographic area.

• HopeLine also donates cash grants to non-profit organizations to help fund education programs, support services, and community outreach.

Verizon Wireless takes the protection of customer information seriously. The company encourages everyone who plans to give a phone to HopeLine to erase any personal data on the phone before donating it. If in doubt on what to remove from your phone, leave it to the professionals. As part of the refurbishing process, HopeLine scrubs the phones prior to distributing them for re-use to ensure all customer information is removed.

Since HopeLine from Verizon’s national cell phone recycling and re-use program was launched in 2001, Verizon Wireless has:

• Collected more than 8 million phones.

• Awarded more than $10 million in cash grants to domestic violence agencies and organizations throughout the country.

• Distributed more than 106,000 phones with more than 319 million minutes of free wireless service to be used by victims of domestic violence.

• Properly disposed of nearly 1.7 million no-longer-used wireless phones in an environmentally sound way.

• Kept more than 210 tons of electronic waste and batteries out of landfills.

Disclosure: I am participating in the Verizon Wireless Ambassador program and have been provided with a wireless device and three months of service in exchange for my honest opinions about the product. For more information head to http://tiny.cc/VZWA