The people of Queensland, Australia are being encouraged to recycle their old mobile phones to enable the planting of trees to protect the Kuranda tree frog and southern cassowary, who are among Australia’s most endangered species.
The “Old Phones, More Trees” campaign is being run by a partneship between MobuleMuster and Landcare Australia.
Every kilogram of handsets sent in by consumers for recycling between May 1 and June 5 (World Environment Day) will result in a tree being planted in one of 4 sites across Australia, including the Myola Basin in Queensland which is the home of the two endangered species.
The partnership aim to plant up to 7,500 trees in the Myola Basin, adjacent to the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area and a total of 30,000 across Australia. To achieve this will mean collecting 30,000 kilograms of phones during the period. The residents of Queensland will be assisting in restoring the natural habitat of these endangered species and also helping to protect the environment by ensuring the materials in their old mobiles are recovered and reused rather than ending up in landfill sites.
The “Old Phones, More Trees” campaign has meant 90,000 kg less old mobile phones in landfill in the past 4 years and more than 200,000 trees have been planted in key locations across Australia. 70% of Australians are holding onto phones that could be recycled, so there is plenty of scope for improving the recycling rate.