Donate a Phone, Save a Life
So reads the campaign currently underway at the Body Shop locations across the United States and Canada. Drop off any unwanted, used cell phones during the month of August, and they will sell, or refurbish them. Phones that can't be salvaged can be sold for between 50 cents and $1.25 per pound to recycling companies that extract toxic materials either for reuse or for safe disposal. Proceeds go to benefit the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and the Canadian Women's Foundation. Additionally, a number of phones will be distributed to approximately 200 women's shelters for the use of at-risk women who need access to a personal safety system when domestic violence strikes.
While many old phones are dumped in a junk drawer, it is currently estimated that over 100 million phones a year are deemed to have outlasted their usefulness, in the States alone. How many of them end up in dumps? There, the toxic substances contained in the circuit board, the liquid crystal display of the screen, and the battery are ready to begin leaking into the ground. How long will it be before the polluted groundwater brings those toxic substances back to your kitchen tap?
Put the above two scenarios together with some of the following disturbing facts:
*In the United States, a woman is beaten every 15 seconds.
*In Canada, 51% of women have, since the age of 16, experienced violence as defined by the Criminal Code.
*Domestic violence occurs in 25% to 33% of all relationships, heterosexual and other.
Keeping all of that in mind, I hope you'll take just a little extra time before the end of this month to pick up that phone you don't want anymore, and drop it off at the Body Shop location near to you. It's one heck of a good cause.
While many old phones are dumped in a junk drawer, it is currently estimated that over 100 million phones a year are deemed to have outlasted their usefulness, in the States alone. How many of them end up in dumps? There, the toxic substances contained in the circuit board, the liquid crystal display of the screen, and the battery are ready to begin leaking into the ground. How long will it be before the polluted groundwater brings those toxic substances back to your kitchen tap?
Put the above two scenarios together with some of the following disturbing facts:
*In the United States, a woman is beaten every 15 seconds.
*In Canada, 51% of women have, since the age of 16, experienced violence as defined by the Criminal Code.
*Domestic violence occurs in 25% to 33% of all relationships, heterosexual and other.
Keeping all of that in mind, I hope you'll take just a little extra time before the end of this month to pick up that phone you don't want anymore, and drop it off at the Body Shop location near to you. It's one heck of a good cause.
4 Comments:
I grew up in a home where my mother was constantly beaten. Despite this, I don't think it is right to single out one form of violence as being more evil than others forms. All violence is equally wrong.
One form of violence isn't necessarily more "evil" than another -- true. One form of violence can be more "evil" than another. It depends of the degree or seriousness of it. I think we can all relate to having a family. When one family member commits an act of violence on another, the pain is closer to home. It's tangible. Women and children have especially borne the brunt of domestic violence, with men being the perpetrators. If we can't stop the violence at home, what hope is there for us to stop the violence outside the home?
Pointing out that violence occurs everywhere and we don't need to highlight the fact that it happens in homes does nothing to stop violence inside or outside the home. All it does it relegates violence within the home to becoming another statistic. I often wonder about those that attempt to take focus away from one cause -- it simply reduces the cause to nothing. It's like saying breast cancer is just one disease that kills -- or AIDS is an epidemic like obesity, and we should equally treat them all. If we attempt to cover everything, we would soon be overwhelmed by the helplessness of the situation. We should deal with everything, just not at the same time. This subject is about domestic violence, and we should deal with it in this instance. We should also deal with other forms of violence, just not with the same funds being allocated to fight domestic violence.
Chris, I fail to understand your perspective. There's no logic there. Especially if you came from a home with domestic violence.
Odd post that takes the focus away from what's important.
I think all the major cell phone companies have a similar program. However saying one form of violence is worse than another is ... err strange.
Also, heterosexial and other?? Equally strange.
So, anon, what is important?
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