The Johnson Imax Theater at the National Museum of Natural History and Nokia will celebrate Earth Day with a program that provides free movie admission to visitors in exchange for their unwanted mobile phones. From April 10 – 18, visitors who turn in a cell phone for recycling at the theater’s box offices will receive one free admission to “Wild Ocean 3D,” the latest in the theater’s ocean-related Imax film series.
“Wild Ocean 3D” reveals the effects that climate change and overfishing have had on the fragile ecosystem off the KwaZulu-Natal Coast in South Africa in a rhythmically and visually stunning way. As the film’s sponsor and presenting theater, Nokia and Smithsonian Theaters have created this initiative as a means to educate visitors on this global change and demonstrate the positive impact of efforts as small as recycling a cell phone on our natural resources.
The United States has an estimated 153 million cell phone users who replace their mobile devices on average every 12 to 18 months. Only 3 percent of these users claim to have recycled an old phone, leaving the remaining phones to clutter desk drawers or end up in landfills. These devices contain precious metals such as copper, gold and silver, and other materials which can be repurposed in many ways such as the creation of new parts for bicycles and even dental fillings.
Nokia operates the largest voluntary mobile-phone recycling program in the world, accepting any mobile device from any manufacturer through both special events such as the “Wild Ocean 3D” initiative and on a continuing basis at more than 5,000 locations worldwide.
The Johnson Theater is adjacent to the Sant Ocean Hall in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History at 10th Street and Constitution Avenue N.W. in Washington, D.C. Box offices are located in the museum’s rotunda and in the theater lobby. Cell phones will be collected during standard box office hours. More information on this initiative and on Smithsonian Theaters’ schedules can be obtained at www.si.edu/imax
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