Part of the reason mobile phone recycling has been down in the United Kingdom is that many people are unsure about how to recycle their phone and some are completely unaware that this is even an option. Recycling a mobile phone should get easier after a recent announcement by O2 that they will take phone recycling online which will make it much easier and more convenient for customers.

O2 launched the website O2 Recycle in an effort to make it easy for people to receive cash payments for their unwanted mobile phones. The service will be available to anyone in the United Kingdom even if they are on a rival network. In addition to recycling mobile phones, the website, which is run by Redeem, will also collect cameras, Mp3 players, and other small electronics like GPS devices. All the customer has to do is go to the website and everything else is simple. Most of the work can be done from the comfort of one’s home.

Once customers log on to o2recycle.co.uk they simply have to enter the make and model of the phone to receive an estimated value. Then the customer must print an online receipt while they wait for O2 to send them a prepaid postage bag in which to send the phone. O2 will donate one pound for each phone to the It’s Your Community charity.

Now a study by the Punjab University says mobile phones can cause crop damage too.

A recent study conducted by researchers at the Department of Environment and Vocational Studies, Punjab University, kicked up a fair amount of dust when it found that mobile phone radiation inhibits mung bean root growth by inducing oxidative stress.

What prompted the research team to search off the beaten path? A new phenomenon in environmental pollution — unnatural amount of electromagnetic radiation in the atmosphere.

According to the researchers, the tremendous increase in the use of cell phones has “significantly added to the rapidly increasing EMF smog, an unprecedented type of pollution consisting of radiation in the environment.” The effects of the smog on humans and the eco system are still being studied.

They investigated whether electromagnetic radiation from cell phones inhibit the growth of mung bean. “Our results showed that cell phone radiation significantly inhibited the germination and radical and plumule growths in mung bean in a time-dependant manner,’’ the researchers said.

Does this mean that by chattering away on your cell phone you are damaging some farmer’s crop or plants in your neighborhood? Hold your horses.

Experts recommend that before jumping into such a sweeping generalization about the real world scenario, much more research needs to be done.

“The seeds were kept between two cell phones at a distance of about 8 cm away. Clearly, any effect that is found cannot be generalised to large distances and longer exposure times,” an evolutionary ecologist and environment conservationist who did not wish to be named, as the domain is a different one.

Cell phones all have a Specific Absorption Rate (SAR), which is a way of measuring the amount of radio-frequency energy that is absorbed by the human body. As of 1996, this exposure limit was set by the FCC, and no phone can have a SAR level greater than 1.6 watts per kilogram (W/kg). As of 2000, the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association (CTIA) mandated that all cell phone manufacturers disclose radiation levels to consumers by placing a label on the phone. Personally, I have never seen a SAR rating disclosed for cell phones, so if the rating is listed, the manufacturers are certainly not advertising that information.

Which is why EWG created the online database. You may remember the EWG for their helpful Guide to Sunscreens to help consumers pick less toxic brands. They’ve done it again with an important guide to radiation levels in cell phones. Here’s a list of the top 10 best phones and their radiation levels.

1. Samsung Impression (SGH-a877) – 0.35 W/kg
2. Motorola RAZR V8 – 0.36 W/kg
3. Samsung SGH-t229 – 0.38 W/kg
4. Samsung Rugby (SGH-a837) – 0.46 W/kg
5. Samsung Propel Pro (SGH-i627) – 0.47 W/kg
6. Samsung Gravity (SGH-t459) – 0.48 W/kg
7. T-Mobile Sidekick – 0.50 W/kg
8. LG Xenon (GR500) – 0.52 W/kg
9. Motorola Karma QA1 – 0.55 W/kg
10. Sanyo Katana II – 0.55 W/kg

As you can see, Samsung dominates when it comes to low radiation levels. The RAZR is also a very popular phone with a low SAR. Meanwhile the top 10 worst cell phones in terms of radiation are:

1. Motorola MOTO VU204 – 1.55 W/kg
2. T-Mobile myTouch 3G – 1.55 W/kg
3. Kyocera Jax S1300 – 1.55 W/kg
4. Blackberry Curve 8330 – 1.54 W/kg
5. Motorola W385 – 1.54 W/kg
6. T-Mobile Shadow – 1.53 W/kg
7. Motorola C290 – 1.53 W/kg
8. Motorola i335 – 1.53 W/kg
9. Motorola MOTO VE240 – 1.52 W/kg
10. Blackberry Bold 9000 – 1.51 W/kg

Smart phones and PDAs tend to have higher SAR levels. The rest of the phones fall in the middle, including some very important models.

* Apple iPhone – 0.97 W/kg
* Apple iPhone 3G S – 0.52 – 1.19 W/kg
* Palm Pre – 0.92 W/kg
* Palm Centro – 1.09 – 1.35 W/kg
* Blackberry Pearl 8130 – 1.48 W/kg
* Blackberry Storm 9530 – 0.57 W/kg
* T-Mobile G1 with Google – 1.11 W/kg
* T-Mobile Sidekick LX – 0.89 W/kg

If you are at all concerned about the health affects of cell phones, but like the rest of us are reliant on the gadget, here are some other ways to limit your exposure to radiation:

* Use a hands-free headset.
* Use a phone that places the antenna as far away from you as possible.
* Extend the antenna during use.
* Limit calls inside buildings.
* Use the phone in open spaces as often as possible.
* Limit use by children.

General Motors (GM) announced that the new Chevy Volt electric car could get up to 230 miles per gallon (MPG) under new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines for electric cars. (The EPA gave the Toyota Prius a 51 MPG rating, according to washingtonpost.com.)

The Volt, expected to launch in 2010 and cost around $40,000, is part of a new fleet of electric vehicles–coming from GM and other car companies–that some experts predict could make up 10 percent of car sales by 2013.

GM’s Volt will allow a driver to go 40 miles on a lithium-ion battery, with range-extension beyond that fueled by gas or other fuels.

According to the handy Plug-in Vehicle Tracker on Plug-In America’s Web site, only two electric cars are now widely available in the U.S.: Commuter Cars’s tiny Tango T600 EV, a two-passenger commuter car that sells for about U.S. $108,000, and the Tesla Roadster, which also carries a $100,000-plus price tag.

Nissan Motor Co. responded to GM’s Volt announcement today by saying the LEAF, Nissan’s new all-electric plug-in hatchback, would get a 367 miles-per-gallon rating under the new EPA guidelines the Dow Jones Newswires reported.

Prototype electric cars have been around since the early 1900s, so why aren’t electric cars on the road en masse now?

The cost of batteries, and their relatively short lifespan, as well as a lack of urgency to go gas free, according to experts.