"Go Green" With Your Wireless Phone In New York And New Jersey

MORRISTOWN, NJ — November 15th is the America Recycles Day and Verizon Wireless encourages all wireless customers to make a difference by recycling their no longer used wireless equipment. Verizon Wireless was the first wireless carrier in the nation to collect and recycle old cell phones and has done so since January 1999 — first in New York and New Jersey and then across the U.S. The company offers the following tips on how to 'go green' while saving money, the environment and, quite possibly, someone's life.

RECYCLE: Consumers and businesses can recycle their no-longer-used wireless phones through the Verizon Wireless HopeLine^® program. HopeLine accepts wireless phones and accessories in any condition from any manufacturer or service provider. Simply drop-off your phone, battery and accessories at any Verizon Wireless Communications Store and the company will dispose of them in an environmentally sound way. To date HopeLine has:

• Kept more than 200 tons of electronics waste and batteries out of landfills.
• Collected nearly 4.2 million wireless phones.
• Properly disposed of nearly 1 million wireless phones.
• And in cooperation with Call2Recycle™ recycled more than 170,000 pounds of batteries.

REUSE: Phones collected through HopeLine are refurbished, resold and reused whenever possible. Proceeds from HopeLine are donated to domestic violence advocacy groups or used to purchase wireless phones for survivors. As a result of HopeLine, Verizon Wireless has donated:

• Over $4 million in cash grants.
• More than 45,000 phones with airtime to domestic violence prevention organizations.
• Locally, HopeLine's direct and in-kind donations total nearly $700,000 including more than $150,000 to the New York City Family Justice Center Initiative.

REDUCE: When left plugged in, empty cell-phone chargers consume standby or 'phantom' energy. The same goes for all chargers. To help save energy — and energy costs -- consumers should plug all chargers (cell phone, digital camera, mp3 player etc.) into a power strip and switch it off when not in use. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates appliances and home electronics are responsible for about 20 percent of a typical home's energy bill. Simply unplugging appliances, electronics and their chargers, when not in use, can save each household hundreds of dollars a year.

For store locations and additional information about HopeLine, visit www.verizonwireless.com/hopeline.  

About Verizon Wireless
Verizon Wireless operates the nation's most reliable wireless voice and data network, serving 63.7 million customers. The largest U.S. wireless company and largest wireless data provider, based on revenues, Verizon Wireless is headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J., with 68,000 employees nationwide. The company is a joint venture of Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) and Vodafone (NYSE and LSE: VOD). Find more information on the Web at www.verizonwireless.com. To preview and request broadcast-quality video footage and high-resolution stills of Verizon Wireless operations, log on to the Verizon Wireless Multimedia Library at www.verizonwireless.com/multimedia.  

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