Pela Case Review

In true sustainable living form, I held onto my last phone case for a long time. Two phones and being run over…I still used it. But it finally started to crack and come apart, so it was time for a new one. I picked out a cute one from a sustainable company and wanted to share my Pela case review.

Pela Case Review

Ok. So, some very cool facts about Pela case and why I picked them for my new phone case. Their phone cases are made with no plastic and are compostable. They’re a B Corp (see B Corporation meaning if that’s a new one for you!) and they’re Climate Neutral Certified. Finally, they recycle old phone cases for free. I mean, just so many good things.

Ok. So I picked out this blue tulip one – technically called London Fog Indigo Bouquet. That sounds fancy. When I purchased my case, they were offering a buy one, get one free deal that still seems to be going on. As somebody who never changes her cell phone case (and clearly keeps it for years), I didn’t order a second one to get for free – I didn’t need it and my husband has a case he likes – it’s plain and black!

So. About the phone case. It’s well made, fits easily, and I really love!!!

But since any good review has the cons too, there were two things that I didn’t LOVE and one of them is actually kind of important.

First, shipping takes a while. After placing the order, it was a week before I got the shipping notification and then another week plus before my case arrived. The company is based in Canada, and I’m in California, so I understood the shipping time. I was a little disappointed that it took so long to get it out of the warehouse though.

But more importantly. The recycling of my old case. After having my new Pela case for a few weeks, I was ready to send in my beloved phone case. The small, cardboard mailing package I received my new case in, is already pre addressed and has an extra closing sticky strip to just stick your phone back in and mail it.

But I wasn’t exactly sure what to do – because the address is in Canada. I looked in all my emails for directions, but couldn’t find anything. I looked on their website and didn’t see anything besides just saying to mail it in, so I contacted them.

They told me their only recycling facilities are in Canada and it should just take a few international stamps to send it. The “few” stamps wasn’t exact enough, so I went into the post office and found out that USPS qualifies the envelope as a package because it isn’t just papers inside and the cheapest sending option is $17.

Now, I understand that recycling isn’t free, but that felt a little steep. I took the package home to think it over. And in the meantime I started searching online for options…

Recycling Phone Cases

First things first. Most phone cases have a mix of materials, so they’re NOT curbside recyclable. I repeat – do not throw them in your recycling bin.

Many places suggest donating them, which is a great option, but my cracked, run over phone case isn’t donate-able.

After some internet sleuthing, I found out that you can recycle phone cases with popsockets. They take all their phone cases and popsockets as well as phone cases from any other brand. You just put in your mailing address and then they’ll give you a printable shipping label.

There are size limitations (to keep costs down). I actually used the Pela envelope and just folded it down extra to fit in the size guidelines.

Pela Case Review Overview

PROS

• great case
• fits variety of phone sizes
• lots of print options

CONS

• shipping takes a while
• recycling from US is expensive