Figuring that those old handsets are just about useless with all of the new technology coming out these days? Well before you go throwing them out, you might want to read this article from The Feature to explore one creative use that most of us would have never guessed in a million years.

The question of recycling handsets is getting a lot of attention lately. People are replacing their handsets on a regular schedule, and no one is quite sure what to do with the old ones. Some get left sitting around collecting dust, some get passed on to friends or relatives, but most, honestly, just get tossed into the garbage. In the US, alone, a new study shows that only about 5% of mobile phones are recycled. Of course, part of the equation may be what happens to the phones that are recycled.

Some phones are sent abroad to other, less developed countries, where they’re resold. Others are given to the elderly since phones without a service plan still can be used to make emergency calls. A slight adjustment on that is happening in the UK, where old mobile phones are being converted into “safety alarms.” The phones are being given to women at risk of domestic abuse, who can push a single button to report a problem while also being able to receive incoming phone calls “for added assurance.”