Electronic waste can be a hassle, but it can also be a treasure. Say you cracked your screen, upgraded to a new phone, switched providers, or just have an old smartphone lying around. While you could throw it in a drawer and forget about it, even a half-broken or outdated smartphone still has potential. 

As long as it turns on and functions, you (or someone else) can still get some use out of it. Don't rush to throw it out, and don't hand it over to an untrustworthy recycling service. Here are some ways that you can repurpose your old smartphone, and what to do when it's useful life is finally through.

Use It As An Electronic Tool

Smartphones are essentially small, portable computers. They've evolved from communication devices to multi-purpose tools—just because you're not using it as a phone anymore doesn't mean it can't function as something else. Even if you keep it around for one or more alternate purposes, it's better than throwing it out.  

• Alarm clock. Extend your battery and get better sleep by turning your real phone off at night, and use your old one as a reliable alarm clock, instead. If the built-in alarm app doesn’t have the features you want, you can browse the app store one with everything you need. 
• Recipe book. Paper can get ruined, stained, and ripped. Electronic recipe books are perfect for the kitchen. Mount it near your fridge, or keep it in a drawer until dinnertime. Then, you can swipe until you find the recipe you want. 
• Kids camera. Young children aren't always the most responsible people in the world. However, giving them a camera is an excellent way to let them document their lives, friends, and experiences for the future. If they drop or break your old phone, it's not a huge loss. 
• App library. Do you have apps that you don't use frequently? Keep your spare phone as an app library. That way, you don't have to uninstall infrequently-used apps and can access them easily when you need them.

Use It As An MP3 Player

Streaming and playing music is a massive battery drain. Whether you download your music or use streaming services like Spotify, you can save your phone’s battery and storage space by using your old smartphone as your dedicated music player. 

Before smartphones had the capability to replace them, iPods and mp3 players were wildly popular, and for a good reason. It’s a bummer if your iPod gets damaged or stolen and you have to go without music until you can replace it, but it’s a major inconvenience when the same fate befalls your phone. Instead of putting your phone (and your private data) in harm’s way when heading to the gym or going out for a run, you can take along your old phone, instead, and still enjoy your workout playlists. 

Use It For Games 

Like music, games can be a massive storage and battery drain on your phone. To avoid sapping your battery and crowding your SD card, you can keep the games on your old phone. As long as it still functions, you can enjoy your favorite rhythm games, puzzles, and stories without sacrificing space on your actual phone. 

This solution also helps if you don't like putting games in the background to respond to messages, answer calls, and look at social media. It's much easier to hit pause and pick up your actual phone than try and tab between multiple apps. 

This tip can also benefit parents of small children. Is your child always asking to play a game on your phone? If you're tired of swiping past all the kid apps, you can use your retired smartphone to store all your kid-friendly apps. Tuck it in the glovebox of your car for long car rides, or keep it on hand just-in-case. 

Use It As An Expendable Phone

Do you enjoy hiking, fishing, biking, and other strenuous activities? Aside from accidents at work and home, many phones meet their horrible ends during recreational activities. If you regularly find yourself outside, you might consider taking your spare phone along instead. 

If you drop it into a body of water, lose it in the wilderness, or flat-out break it while having fun, it's less of a blow than losing your primary phone. As long as it still has service, you can use it in the event of emergencies. If you don't want to keep paying a regular bill, you can load it up using a prepaid card. 

Use it as a camera during your trip, and don't stress too much if it takes a beating. It is your spare, after all!

Donate Or Sell It 

Many people cannot afford smartphones fresh off the shelf and rely on donation programs and secondhand sellers to get modern electronics. For some of these people, a donated smartphone might be the only communication device they have.

After you thoroughly wipe your phone, you can hand it off to someone less fortunate. In this day and age, having a smartphone can allow people to access job opportunities, emergency services, and even online banking. While smartphones might seem like a luxury, they are increasingly becoming more of a necessity. 

If your phone is still in decent condition, you can make some money by selling or exchanging it. It’s crucial that you wipe your data from your phone before handing it off to one of the many sell & exchange services for old electronics.  

The process can vary depending on which service you choose, but many of them allow you to sell or exchange your phone for a small fee. You get your money back, the service provider gets a cut of the profits, and someone else gets a new phone. Everyone wins. 

How To Responsibly Throw Out Your Old Electronics

When it's really time to say goodbye to your old phone and make room for the new, make sure that you do it safely. Many states have passed legislation regulating how and where you can safely dispose of and recycle e-waste. Failure to follow them could not only contribute to environmental damage, but it could also lead to heavy fines. 

Junk King specializes in recycling, reusing, and donating waste of all kinds, including e-waste. Our team of trained and fully-insured professionals can haul practically anything from your home or office. We do the heavy figurative lifting for you by keeping abreast of and adhering to federal, local, and state laws. We do the literal heavy lifting, too, by loading your junk onto our trucks and hauling it away, so you don’t have to lift a finger.  

After booking a visit, we'll give you a transparent estimate with absolutely no hidden fees to haul away your junk and safely and responsibly dispose of it. 

Ready to get rid of that junk? It’s as simple as 1, 2, 3.

You can make an appointment by booking online or calling 1.888.888.JUNK (5865).