After more than a decade of continuously using and upgrading cell phones, laptops and MP3 players, the amount of old electronics shoved in closets and under beds is astounding. We never know quite what to do with a former beloved, but now replaced, device. A site called EcoSquid has solutions for this problem.

Enter the brand name or model number of a device in the search box in on the home page.


You are prompted to give more information about your item. For most electronics, you just choose an appropriate category (which was chosen already for our search above), then choose the brand name. Enter a zip code, then click Find Matching Offers.

A list appears on the right of the page listing local places to recycle the electronic device.

The process for recycling a cell phone is much more fun—EcoSquid lists live, cash offers for phones. After searching for the phone from the home page, answer the questions regarding your phone’s condition and which accessories are included with the phone. Click Find Matching Offers.

Cash offers appear on the right part of the screen. Click any offer to see the details on the offer’s Web site.

The EcoSquid idea is certainly a worthy one; we all need to recycle more. However, most of the cash offers for cell phones are far less than we could make by selling the phone on Ebay, even considering fees and shipping costs. This is not EcoSquid’s fault, but rather a problem with the used cell phone buying market in general.