Do you have an old mobile phone (or two… or three) at home taking up space in a junk drawer or closet?

Well it’s not junk!

It’s a valuable resource, but probably not to you. So bring it / them along with you to the retreat in Cologne in November (after removing any personal data) and give whatever you have to me, Janet. I live in Cologne and will take the phones I collect to the Cologne Zoo. (Please note that I said phones. No tablets, laptops, TVs or refrigerators!)

And why would the zoo be interested in old cell phones? The Cologne Zoo (Kölner Zoo) is involved in a large number of research, conservation and education projects in various parts of our interconnected world, and one of these aims to protect the ever-shrinking habitat of gorillas and bonobos in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Among the many other problems in the DRC is the fact that this country – like many in Africa – has had the great misfortune of being rich in resources that the rest of the world wants. One of them is coltan, a rare mineral used in mobile phones. And guess who lives in the areas where coltan is mined: gorillas and bonobos. Their habitat is being destroyed every time we opt for the latest model of a cool-looking device, as if it weren’t bad enough that they are also killed for bush meat. This puts their populations under even more pressure, and both are now endangered species. And since wars are fought over coltan, this means the loss of human lives as well.

The donated phones are either resold or recycled, generating several thousand euros of income per year that is used to support (non-human) animal protection projects in the DRC. So liberate yourself from some clutter, excavate some corpses in your cell phone cemetery and let them experience a new life while making our planet a slightly better place to live.

by Janet Mac Nair, EUU Member at Large and Member of EUU Social Action Committee