There were 1.5 million new iPhone 4s sold on the very first day of its availability. It stands to reason that a lot of these were bought by early adopters salivating to upgrade to the latest new version. Apple has become the Jedi Master of planned obsolescence; the iPhone upgrade being just one example. Before your old iPhone winds up in your personal electronics graveyard, consider these ways to make a few bucks or just do the right thing.

Making a Buck on an Old Phone

Apple will send you a gift card when you send them your old Apple products. The company determines whether or not your equipment is reusable. If it can be reused, they’ll send you a gift card good for any purchase at an Apple Store if your phone makes the grade; if not, they’ll recycle it on the company’s dime.

A similar, private site is Gazelle, which emphasizes making money for your recycling efforts. Gazelle will pay up to $100 for the iPhone 3G models and $200 for 3GS models if the devices are in good condition. BuyMyTronics.com is a similar site, where both broken and working iPhones are bought and then either resold or used for parts. RadioShack will also pay between $100 and $200 for used iPhones.

Bartering

At TradeStuff you can trade your old phone for something else that you really need. Ditto for Freecycle, a locally based swap club where you trade your stuff for theirs.

For Greener Good

The folks at Green Recycling promise to take your phone off your hands, working or not. The company encourages fundraising through recycling cellphones. Enter your zip code into Earth 911.  A list of recyclers in your area appears.

For Charitable Donations

Don’t underestimate the power of the individual to do good things with old iPhones. Steve Glinberg, developer of educational apps like KidCalc Math Fun, runs a recycling program and collects old iPhones and iPod Touches to donate to schools. Glinberg wipes the data, restores the factory settings, installs educational apps, and ships the devices to teachers who have requested them.

Where do you stand in the norm? In a poll conducted on ZDNet, 40% of users said that they recycled their used phones; 35% said they donated them to charity. Final word of advice? Before you send your old phone to any sort of recycling program wipe it clean.