“GO GREEN” WITH YOUR WIRELESS PHONE

Verizon Wireless Tips for Consumers and Businesses to Recycle, Reuse and Reduce

America Recycles Day is Nov. 15 and Verizon Wireless encourages all wireless customers in Montgomery County to help make a difference by recycling their no-longer-used wireless phones, batteries and equipment. Verizon Wireless was the first wireless carrier in the nation to collect and recycle old wireless phones and 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, batteries and accessories in any condition from any manufacturer or service provider. Simply drop-off no-longer-used phones, batteries and accessories at any Verizon Wireless Communications Store and the company says it 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 4.4 million wireless phones.

• Properly disposed of more than one million wireless phones.

REUSE: Phones collected through HopeLine are refurbished, resold and reused whenever possible . Proceeds from HopeLine are used to provide wireless phones and cash grants for Montgomery County shelters and non-profit organizations that focus on domestic violence prevention and awareness. As a result of HopeLine, Verizon Wireless has donated:

• More than $4 million in cash grants to shelters and non-profit organizations from coast to coast .

• More than 45,000 phones with airtime and other features, valued at more than $13 million, to domestic violence prevention organizations.

• Thousands of dollars in grant support for local shelters like Laurel House Domestic Violence Shelter.

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 electronic chargers into a power strip and switch it off when the chargers are 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.