What to do with your unwanted cell phones:
Arlington DPW
The DPW Administrative Office at 51 Grove Street during regular business hours will accept electronics such as a cell phone, DVD player, digital camera, small appliance, and others. See the link for the full list and more information.
Mass Recycle
In addition to cell phones, they also take ipods, cameras and PDA's. Closest dropoff points to Arlington are Cambridge and Burlington.
Whole Foods
Contact your nearest store to find out if they accept cell phones or any other items for recycling. The Bedford store and the Woburn store have recycling pages on their websites, but other local stores also have recycle bins, though not stated on their website. The Woburn store is collecting used and unwanted cell phones on behalf of Secure the Call, a local non-profit organization that collects old cell phones and redistributes them to the community to be used as 911 emergency-only phones.
Cell Phones for Soldiers
They sell old phones to a recycler and use the cash for phone cards for soldiers. You can set yourself up as a temporary dropoff point, if you want to collect for them. Or, individuals can mail in their old phones.