{"id":7209,"date":"2015-03-05T10:23:49","date_gmt":"2015-03-05T14:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/?p=7209"},"modified":"2019-04-12T10:52:51","modified_gmt":"2019-04-12T10:52:51","slug":"what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/","title":{"rendered":"What to do With Old Cell Phones: 10 Ways on How to Give Them a Second Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

90% of American adults now own a cell phone and a staggering 125 million of these phones get discarded each year across the US. These phones go on to create 65,000 tons of trash, and that\u2019s just from cell phones alone, without taking into account computers, laptops and other e-waste. This leaves just 10% of discarded phones being recycled each year. (Source: Pew Research Center).<\/p>\n

That poor old cell phone has served you well over the years, so it\u2019s only right that you give it a second chance at life, and that\u2019s what we wanted to look at in today\u2019s post.<\/p>\n

So without further-ado, here are our ten best ways that you can give your unwanted cell phone a second crack at life!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

#1 Pass Them to Your Children as a Toy<\/h2>\n

If your kids are anything like my son, he is obsessed by my cell phone and takes every opportunity to do a \u2018grab-and-run\u2019 when I have left it in a reachable area. Now, I wouldn\u2019t mind but he is at an age where he likes to toss things in the air and across the room.<\/p>\n

Having a spare phone handy can sometimes solve this problem and allows your little one to use a phone for children\u2019s apps, music, videos, and making \u201cpretend\u201d calls when they see you using the phone.<\/p>\n

Saves smashing up a Nexus or iPhone device!<\/p>\n

\n

#2 Turn Your Phone into an MP3 Player<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Quite a popular second-life for phones is to simply use them as a standalone music player. You can either fill your phone with your favorite songs, clearing off any personal information, data and apps. Or, you can place it into a docking system in your home and then use it as your home sound system.<\/p>\n

\n

#3 Create a Digital Photo Frame<\/h2>\n

You will need to buy a stand for this, but usually you can pick them up for a couple of dollars from the local store. You can get magnetic clips for the back of your phone, suction cup stands, and case stands. By using one of these you can use an app on your phone to scroll through your photo gallery and display family photos.<\/p>\n

Of course this option heavily depends on the screen size of your phone and the battery life of your phone. However, if you are going to use it only as digital photo frame you should turn off all the battery draining features.<\/p>\n

\n

#4 Install a New ROM or OS<\/h2>\n

For all you techies out there, this one will certainly interest you! This is where you can really get experimenting with your phone by flashing ROMs and using a spare phone to test out your devices capabilities. If you have an Android cell phone then even better as the Android platform is so open that you can install plenty of modified versions on your second phone. This will help you unlock new features and tools that you wouldn\u2019t normally be able to.<\/p>\n

\n

#5 Setup a Home Security Camera<\/h2>\n

For the tech savvy and security conscious amongst us this could be one of the best uses for a unwanted cell phone. Having a tripod stand, or any other stand for that matter will come in handy here, and with the use of a good app you can monitor a live feed of wherever you point your old cell phone at.<\/p>\n

Depending on the app you use you can login to your live feed from another phone, tablet and even your desktop PC at work to see what\u2019s going on around your house. You can also benefit from certain features such as motion detection alerts in the event of something moving. It\u2019s quite the state-of-the-art setup and beats most $200 – $300 security cameras.<\/p>\n

\n

#6 Turn it into a Dedicated Alarm Clock<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Smartphone\u2019s can do everything these days it seems, apart from making you a cup of hot coffee; well at least I don\u2019t think that has been accomplished just yet.<\/p>\n

What your phone is quite good at, is waking you up in the morning so why not use your old handset as a snazzy new Alarm Clock?<\/p>\n

\n

#7 Use Your Phone to Control Your Home<\/h2>\n

This is going to sound futuristic but you can use your retired Smartphone to connect to the electrical system in your home. This little bit of magic won’t just make you look like some kind of wizard to your mates or family, it will transform the way you live.<\/p>\n

As it\u2019s an unused phone you will be using, you can fix it into a wall-charging dock and access anything from your lights, Bluetooth speakers, and climate control systems.<\/p>\n

Picture it\u2026<\/p>\n

\n

#8 Use it as Your Permanent Sat Nav<\/h2>\n

Like many people, I use my phones sat nav to get me from A to B when I am not familiar with the route. The novelty has almost certainly worn off this now for me because of a few reasons:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Your phone battery drains down to less than 10% if not charging<\/li>\n
  2. You have to unclip and clip the phone back in to text, call, or check your emails<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u2026it can be a real pain.<\/p>\n

    Instead you could use your old phone and turn it into a permanent sat nav, that you can charge up and use especially for these kinds of journeys, while your main phone can stay readily available for you to use, or your passengers to use if you are driving.<\/p>\n

    \n

    #9 Use Your Phone as a Digital Camera<\/h2>\n

    We use our phones on a regular basis to take selfies, family photos, vacation photos and scenic landscape shots, so it makes sense that an old phone with a good rating megapixel camera is used as a standalone digital camera.<\/p>\n

    You can even buy specialized camera lenses that will fit onto your phone so you can snap some near-to-professional looking photos.<\/p>\n

    \n

    #10 Sell it for Cash!<\/h2>\n

    C\u2019mon, we couldn\u2019t go through a whole article with at least mentioning the fact that Americans can recycle their phones for cash at SellCell.com could we? After all, many Americans are still not aware that they can trade in these old phones for a cash return. In fact only 2.3% of Americans are said to recycle their old cell phones in their lifetime with another 7% throwing them into the trash. (Source: recyclingforcharities.com)<\/p>\n

    Making cash for your old devices sure beats putting them out in the trash, right?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    90% of American adults now own a cell phone and a staggering 125 million of these phones get discarded each<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1824],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhat to do With Old Cell Phones: 10 Ways on How to Give Them a Second Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"That poor old cell phone has served you well over the years, it\u2019s only right you give it a second chance at life. Here are ten ways to re-purpose your cell.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What to do With Old Cell Phones: 10 Ways on How to Give Them a Second Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"That poor old cell phone has served you well over the years, it\u2019s only right you give it a second chance at life. Here are ten ways to re-purpose your cell.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SellCell.com Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-05T14:23:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-12T10:52:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/old-phones.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Merchant\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Merchant\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"John Merchant\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/841b208b82b7e58948b00f3cf6a9add3\"},\"headline\":\"What to do With Old Cell Phones: 10 Ways on How to Give Them a Second Life\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-05T14:23:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-12T10:52:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/\"},\"wordCount\":1085,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Recycling\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/\",\"name\":\"What to do With Old Cell Phones: 10 Ways on How to Give Them a Second Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-05T14:23:49+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-12T10:52:51+00:00\",\"description\":\"That poor old cell phone has served you well over the years, it\u2019s only right you give it a second chance at life. Here are ten ways to re-purpose your cell.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What to do With Old Cell Phones: 10 Ways on How to Give Them a Second Life\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"SellCell.com Blog\",\"description\":\"Cell Phone News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"SellCell\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/c9ac71a8282e1fecd95e-f07dbcddcacf0d4c572ea7178ee6902d.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sellcell-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/c9ac71a8282e1fecd95e-f07dbcddcacf0d4c572ea7178ee6902d.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sellcell-logo.png\",\"width\":696,\"height\":696,\"caption\":\"SellCell\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/841b208b82b7e58948b00f3cf6a9add3\",\"name\":\"John Merchant\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cfe70f1738cd4377d28a4f1fdca42d08?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cfe70f1738cd4377d28a4f1fdca42d08?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Merchant\"},\"description\":\"John Merchant has spent over a decade with SellCell, where he has written in-house news stories, provided expert commentary on industry statistics, and delivered company updates that keep readers informed and engaged. With a sharp eye for trends and a passion for clear, accessible communication. Outside of work, John is a lifelong gamer and an avid Android enthusiast, always eager to explore the latest devices, apps, and innovations. His mix of professional insight and personal passion allows him to bring both authority and personality to his writing, making complex topics relatable and enjoyable for readers.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/author\/john-merchant\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What to do With Old Cell Phones: 10 Ways on How to Give Them a Second Life","description":"That poor old cell phone has served you well over the years, it\u2019s only right you give it a second chance at life. Here are ten ways to re-purpose your cell.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"What to do With Old Cell Phones: 10 Ways on How to Give Them a Second Life","og_description":"That poor old cell phone has served you well over the years, it\u2019s only right you give it a second chance at life. Here are ten ways to re-purpose your cell.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/","og_site_name":"SellCell.com Blog","article_published_time":"2015-03-05T14:23:49+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-04-12T10:52:51+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/old-phones.png"}],"author":"John Merchant","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Merchant","Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/"},"author":{"name":"John Merchant","@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/841b208b82b7e58948b00f3cf6a9add3"},"headline":"What to do With Old Cell Phones: 10 Ways on How to Give Them a Second Life","datePublished":"2015-03-05T14:23:49+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-12T10:52:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/"},"wordCount":1085,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Recycling"],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/","url":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/","name":"What to do With Old Cell Phones: 10 Ways on How to Give Them a Second Life","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-03-05T14:23:49+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-12T10:52:51+00:00","description":"That poor old cell phone has served you well over the years, it\u2019s only right you give it a second chance at life. Here are ten ways to re-purpose your cell.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/what-to-do-with-old-cell-phones-10-ways-on-how-to-give-them-a-second-life\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What to do With Old Cell Phones: 10 Ways on How to Give Them a Second Life"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/","name":"SellCell.com Blog","description":"Cell Phone News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"SellCell","url":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/c9ac71a8282e1fecd95e-f07dbcddcacf0d4c572ea7178ee6902d.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sellcell-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/c9ac71a8282e1fecd95e-f07dbcddcacf0d4c572ea7178ee6902d.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/sellcell-logo.png","width":696,"height":696,"caption":"SellCell"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/841b208b82b7e58948b00f3cf6a9add3","name":"John Merchant","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cfe70f1738cd4377d28a4f1fdca42d08?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/cfe70f1738cd4377d28a4f1fdca42d08?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"John Merchant"},"description":"John Merchant has spent over a decade with SellCell, where he has written in-house news stories, provided expert commentary on industry statistics, and delivered company updates that keep readers informed and engaged. With a sharp eye for trends and a passion for clear, accessible communication. Outside of work, John is a lifelong gamer and an avid Android enthusiast, always eager to explore the latest devices, apps, and innovations. His mix of professional insight and personal passion allows him to bring both authority and personality to his writing, making complex topics relatable and enjoyable for readers.","url":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/author\/john-merchant\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7209"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sellcell.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}