The green movement is here and there are efforts on all fronts to make sure it not only stays around but continues to grow. The ideas and creativity behind the Green movement have showed that everyone has the capabilities to recycle. Although, it may be on different levels some more intense than others, the opportunity to recycle now may find you instead of you having to look for it. That is exactly the case in Omaha, Nebraska where the new EcoATM has made its way on to the scene.
The Nebraska Furniture Mart is the first location to install the EcoAtm, and is serving as a test study for a possible advance in a future release. EcoATM is a San Diego start up company that used to be known as Remobile. The have developed a self-service kiosk, also known as EcoATM which is focused on decreasing the amount of e-waste in the environment along with promoting an easy and convenient way to recycle old cell phones. The e-cycling stations inspects all cell phones and assigns them an up to date secondary market value and then provides an in store payment. If the phone has no monetary value the consumer can assign it to the recycling bin and off it goes.
EcoATM has declared the Nebrasksa machine an instant success, since its September 21st start up date. The success comes on two fronts both with the number of cell phones recycled and the amount of trade up purchases. On the very first day the station received 23 phones to be recycled and on the second day paid out over $100 for recycled phones it received.
EcoATM has big plans ahead of them, planning on installing kiosks across the nation. By setting up stations in San Diego, Texas, Washington State, and Vermont in this quarter alone. EcoATM also has plans for a massive roll out of the machines to happen in the second quarter of next year. Eventually the machines will be able to recognize other devices such as MP3 players, digital cameras, notebooks, printers, and storage devices.
The machines use a camera based system to assess the condition of the cell phones. The cameras are able to detect signs of wear and tear from a cracked screen to missing keys and to determine the value of the device. The question that may arise here, is can a machine inspect the device with the same accuracy as a human? This question is still up in the air but nonetheless with the success of the EcoATM in Nebraska there will be many more stations to test that question.
With technology becoming a friend of the Green movement, there will be more innovating approaches to protect the planet. The EcoATM is just one of many new ideas that have arisen to attack the overwhelming amount of e-waste that is being released into the environment.
Tags: EcoATM, green movement, Nebraska Furniture Mart, phone recycling
