WirelessWave, a national Canadian wireless retailer has been running some catchy ads recently.  One features a young couple walking along a pristine coastline.   The man skips a stone across the water and the woman proceeds to toss her cell phone along after it.

The problem?

This ad sends the wrong message about the appropriate way to dispose of an old cell phone.  With toxic chemicals like mercury, arsenic, cadmium, brominated flame retardants, etc, the last place an old cell phone belongs is in a lake, creek, river, or ocean.  One tiny drop of mercury is enough to poison an entire lake.

Kids who see this ad may get the idea that dumping cell phones and other toxic products in the water is perfectly acceptable, after all, people on TV did it.

While not as sexy or romantic, it sure would be nice to see WirelessWave, Telephone Booth, and Wireless Etc (all part of Glentel) advertise that they offer to do the responsible thing with old cell phones and work with a company like CellCycle.ca to ensure that they get recycled. 

We’d even help them out for free.

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