OAKLAND ZOO ANSWERS CALL TO RECYCLE
4/2/2008
WHAT: FREE Cell Phone Recycling at Oakland Zoo!!
WHEN: New Program Starts April, 2008
WHERE: Cell Phone drop-off boxes are located in the Island Café and the Oakland Zoo’s Education Building.
BENEFITS: You get rid of E-Waste…the Oakland Zoo receives money for Animals and Conservation programs.
INFO: For more details or to schedule a media interview, please contact Nicky Mora, Marketing Manager @ (510) 632-9525, ext 130
Oakland Zoo is teaming up with ECO-CELL to recycle cell phones! Right now, we are reaching out to Bay Area residents to answer the call of the wild. Donate your old cell phones to the Oakland Zoo and reduce the risk of hazardous materials ending up in our landfills. Your unwanted cell phones help raise much needed funds for the Oakland Zoo’s conservation programs. Through ECO-CELL’s innovative program, 70% of the phones collected will be used by first-time, low income users abroad or by selected local organizations. ECO-CELL runs a strict NO LANDFILL Program! All items received including batteries, accessories, and cell phones will be recycled using the best demonstrated technologies for recycling e-waste. We hope you will support us in our recycling efforts. Each cell phone collected turns into cash for the Oakland Zoo’s animals and conservation programs.
Oakland Zoo is committed to this recycling project because of an item found in cell phones called coltan. Coltan is contributing to the deaths of gorillas. The main area where coltan is mined contains the Kahuzi Biega National Park, home of the highly endangered Mountain Gorilla. In the Park, ground-clearing for mining operations has reduced food and habitat for the gorillas, cutting their numbers nearly in half. Mining has also displaced the local people, leading them to kill gorillas and sell the “bush meat” to the miners and rebel armies that control the area. Within the Dem. Rep. of Congo as a whole, the number of Eastern Lowland Gorillas in eight national parks has declined by 90% over the past five years, leaving only 3,000 gorillas total.
There is hope. Companies that use coltan are beginning to demand that their coltan only comes from a legitimately mined source and for that fact to be verified on the packaging, much like Dolphin Safe Tuna. What you can do currently is reduce and recycle. Reduce the amount of electronics, including cell phones, that you buy and recycle them. Recycling these items helps eliminate the need for more mining and keeps electronics out of the landfills. Recycle your old cell phones today! For an added bonus, recycle your old cell phones on April 12th at Oakland Zoo’s Earth Day 2008 event and receive a FREE train ride.
For more information about Oakland Zoo’s ECO-CELL recycling program, please contact Nicky Mora, Marketing Manager @ (510) 632-9525, ext 130.
The award-winning Oakland Zoo is home to more than 440 native and exotic animals. Nestled in the Oakland Hills, in 525 acre Knowland Park, the Zoo is located at 9777 Golf Links Road, off Highway 580.
