About — reuse.drwhatwhy.com

Our Mission

Why does this site exist?

Billions of old smartphones and tablets sit unused in drawers worldwide. Most of them still work. Most of them are still useful. But most people don't know what to do with them — so they sit there, or eventually get tossed in the bin.

Electronic waste is one of the fastest-growing waste streams on the planet. Old devices contain gold, silver, copper, and other materials that are valuable — and toxic if they end up in landfill. Over 50 million metric tonnes of e-waste is generated every year, and less than 20% is formally recycled.

reuse.drwhatwhy.com exists to bridge the gap between "I have this old phone" and "I know exactly what to do with it." Every tutorial is written for regular people. Every resource is free. Every piece of advice is practical.

We don't sell courses, push premium memberships, or partner with phone manufacturers. We just try to give genuinely useful, honest guidance.

This site is maintained independently. It's part of the drwhatwhy.com family — a home for practical answers to everyday questions.

15+

Step-by-step tutorials

20+

Curated browser games

12+

Recommended apps

Free

No account, no paywall

What we stand for

Three principles that guide everything on this site.

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Sustainability First

The greenest device is the one you already own. Reuse before you recycle, recycle before you trash. We mean it.

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Beginner Friendly

Every guide is written for someone who has never done this before. No jargon, no skipped steps, no assumptions.

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Always Free

This site is free and always will be. We flag paid apps clearly and recommend free alternatives wherever possible.

Why It Matters

The e-waste problem is bigger than most people realise

The average person replaces their phone every 2–3 years. Globally, over 5 billion phones were discarded in a single recent year — most without being properly recycled.

Those phones contain lead, mercury, cadmium, and rare earth elements. When they end up in landfill, toxic materials leach into soil and groundwater. When they're informally "recycled" in developing countries, workers are exposed to those same materials without protection.

The solution isn't just better recycling — it's keeping devices in use longer in the first place. That's what this site is for.

Find Recycling & Donation Options →

Frequently Asked Questions

No account needed, ever. Everything on reuse.drwhatwhy.com is completely free and open — read, follow the guides, and get going.

Generally we mean devices 3–8 years old. If your phone runs Android 8 or later, or iOS 12 or later, most of our tutorials will work. For older devices we note limitations in each guide — but even very old phones have useful roles to play.

Yes — we personally test every game listed on a device that's at least 5 years old before recommending it. We show a performance bar on each game card so you can gauge expectations. Games like Wordle and 2048 work on anything; a few (like GeoGuessr) need more memory but still run fine on most older phones.

For some uses — yes, absolutely fine. An offline music player, photo frame, or baby monitor on a closed home Wi-Fi network poses minimal risk. For tasks involving sensitive accounts (banking, email), we'd suggest caution and recommend putting the device on a separate guest network without access to other devices.

Absolutely — we welcome both. Send a message via the drwhatwhy.com contact page and we'll get back to you. Corrections are especially appreciated.

We use non-intrusive display ads and occasional affiliate links — if you click through and purchase something, we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We never let monetisation influence recommendations. If we don't think something is genuinely worth your time, we don't link to it.

Yes — always factory reset before repurposing or donating a device. This removes all your personal data, accounts, and apps. Our Factory Reset & Prep tutorial walks you through the exact steps for both Android and iPhone. It takes about 15 minutes.

Often yes, depending on how cracked it is. A phone with a cracked screen that still touches accurately can be used as a security camera (screen facing the wall), a science computing station (BOINC — no screen needed), or a music player connected to a Bluetooth speaker. Screen replacement is also worth considering — it's typically £20–60 at a local repair shop.

About This Site