I know we’re all busy, so here’s today’s blog in one sentence:

There’s a fabulous new way to recycle your old cell phone and mitigate carbon change at the same time.

Interested in the complete story?

One week ago I dropped my iPhone down the crack between the elevator and the lobby. Gone. I e-mailed family, friends, and business associates that I’d be going mobile-silent until I found a solution. My dear brother Charlie suggested that I dropped my phone intentionally so that I could get myself a new iPhone, the 4G that’s coming. Perhaps there is some truth to that. He has known me since I was two, after all.

But the new iPhone wasn’t available to preorder until today, June 15th, and rather than buy some temporary cell phone, I’ve managed to lump along without my usual handheld personal assistant. Others were beginning to notice, however. My daughter Louisa called on the home line yesterday: “Mom, I can’t believe I’m finally talking to you! Omigod! Listen to me: you have got to get a new phone. Any phone! What if your car breaks down and you need to call for help? What if you’re in an emergency?”

Today, June 15, I went to preorder the new iPhone first thing, 7:15 am: first at the Apple site (store “closed”), then by landline phone (“due to extremely high call volumes we are unable to answer your call at this time”). Undeterred, I went to the Apple store in person to preorder the thing. No luck. “We haven’t been able to get one all morning,” the sales rep told me, in a failed attempt to soothe. I decided to investigate the temporary phone options at the AT&T store down the block and, I am ashamed to say, I wound up with a $29.99 Nokia. Ashamed because, what happens to this cheezy phone after I’m done with it?

Luckily, our friend Heather Margolis has a solution: www.plantmyphone.com

I signed up to receive a free, pre-paid mailer, in which I will send the temporary phone, which PlantMyPhone assures me will be recycled properly. If you prefer, you can retrieve the mailer at selected locations, e.g. REI, Starbucks, and on certain university campuses. Easy: insert the unwanted phone, mail it, and PlantMyPhone “responsibly recycles your phone and sells the recycled materials to fund tree planting in the humid tropics,” where trees have the most environmental benefit:

Award-winning nonprofit organizations specializing in agroforestry projects—which restore depleted lands and boost the agricultural productivity and incomes of indigenous peoples in some of the poorest parts of the world—plant the actual trees… in12 tropical countries: Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Burundi, Senegal, Zambia, India, Philippines and Haiti. Species include Cocoa, Coffee, Banana, Orange, Cedar, Teak, Mahogany, Oak, Acacia, Eucalyptus, Laurel and Leucaena.

How many trees are we talking about? A Blackberry in “good condition” might plant 21 trees. An iPhone in “good condition” equals 79 trees. If I ever do find my old iPhone at in the basement of our office building, it will likely have a “broken screen”: 22 trees. Complete list is here.

Cell phones can contain hazardous chemicals such as cadmium, lead and mercury. Unless properly recycled, these chemicals could make their way from landfills into our soil and into the water we drink and air we breathe.

How PlantMyPhone Recycles Responsibly

PlantMyPhone recycles with partners that adhere to a no export, no landfill policy that ensures that hazardous materials are not exported to third world countries and that no materials end up in land fills.

Recycling partners include Sims Recycling, which was named one of the top 100 most sustainable corporations in the world at the 2009 World Economic Forum in Davos. Want more tips on recycling your phone — and all sorts of other items? Go to Practically Green and earn points as you dispose of them properly.

P.S. Just tried the Apple online store again, same deal:

Your request couldn’t be processed.

We’re sorry, but there was an error processing your request. Please try again later.

There’s always tomorrow. Meanwhile, why not leave your comments for me below, write to me at Sarah@practicallygreen.com, fan us on Facebook, or give us a tweet @practicallygrn.