When you buy a new smartphone, it can seem like the most exciting piece of technology ever. In such a short space of time, however, that same device becomes almost obsolete as advanced models crop up around it. Major companies like Apple are now releasing at least three new models per year, and this is pushing the industry on rapidly. It feels like such a waste to throw old phones away, though, and it would be much better to repurpose them.
Tech Recycling is Huge
The global recycling effort is growing, but the numbers are still much smaller than many would desire. According to Greenmatters, only around 9 percent of the world’s recycling gets recycled, and so much more needs to be done. One of the planet’s leaders when it comes to going green is Pennsylvania, where the government recently signed off on a new advanced recycling method for plastic waste in the state.
There has also been a lot of advancement in the recycling of tech waste, with encourages people to reuse their old equipment rather than throw it away. As technological advancements come thick and fast, old hardware can pile up. So, it’s good to have a few ideas in place about how it can be repurposed.
Use it Solely for Gaming
One of the best ways to reuse an old smartphone is to turn it into a device solely for gaming. Ever since the first advanced mobiles came about in the late 2000s, they have been ideally suited to quickfire games that don’t need high levels of investment from players. A lot of these offerings don’t require phones to have high specs either, so old models would be perfect.
If you have an internet connection on your old device, you could easily log on to an online casino site and play the multitude of options there. For players in Pennsylvania, there are so many PA online casinos with offers for players to take advantage of. These include deposit matches at a variety of sites, like the 100% deposit bonus up to $1,000 offered by PartyCasino. Not only can you save cash by repurposing your old smartphone to play the games, but you may also have the chance to be lucky with the free playing money.
There are plenty of other online games that you can play on a dedicated gaming phone, and you could even assign a different old device to a particular game if you have a great number of old models lying around.
Turn it Into a Security Camera
Nowadays, there’s no need to fork out loads of money on CCTV for your house. This is thanks to the fact that smartphones can act as security cameras if they’re connected to WIFI. Doing it this way is much easier to set up as well, it’s simply a case of downloading an app and putting the phone in the desired location.
You can connect your current smartphone to the old one that’s acting as a security camera and keep an eye on your house while you’re at work. This is an ideal way to spy on your maid or gardener to make sure they aren’t taking too many breaks.
Use it For Reading
Physical books may be a dying breed, as e-readers continue to take the world by storm. E-books became popular in the late 1990s on dedicated devices like the Kindle, but they have enjoyed even more success on smartphones and tablets. These devices have made e-books more accessible and convenient, as users have everything in one place.
The problem is, when reading a book on a phone screen there can be multiple distractions in the form of notifications, and these take readers away from the content they are looking at. If you take the sim card out of your old phone and disconnect it from the internet, you can use it just for reading books without the worry of notifications popping up. This way, you can maintain perfect attention and have a pleasurable reading experience.
If you think your old smartphone is obsolete and useless, think again. Don’t contribute to the piles of tech waste clogging up the planet. If you don’t want to try to sell it, you could opt to repurpose it into a handy new object.