*In the US, cell phone use has surged from 340,000 subscribers in 1985 to approximately 170 million in 2004.
*The average American cell phone user owns 3 or more cell phones.
*The average life span of a cell phone is only 18 months.
*It is estimated that 130 million cell phones will become obsolete and discarded each year.
*It is estimated that up to 75 percent of obsolete cell phones are stockpiled in drawers by people who don't know what else to do with them.
*In 2005, 500 million old cell phones will be stockpiled in homes across the country.
*Cell phones contain many toxic materials such as arsenic, mercury, lead, copper, zinc and brominated flame retardants which would be released into the air and groundwater supply if disposed of in landfills - creating threats to human and animal health as well as the environment.
*Over 70% of Americans do not know that they can recycle their old cell phone.
*In a recent survey, only 2.3% of Americans recycled their old cell phones and 7% threw them in the garbage. Surveys suggest that 90% of Americans would recycle their cell phone if it was convenient.
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