And now cellphones found on campus but never claimed by their owners are getting a new lease of life.
The Otago University Students Association (OUSA) is donating all its unclaimed lost property cellphones - and there are plenty of them - to Women's Refuge.
Cellphones were kept at the association's offices for at least three months, but many were never claimed, association women's representative Ashley Murchison said on Wednesday.
In the past, they had been auctioned, but would now be recycled instead.
"[Telecommunications company] Orb Communications already has a goodwill partnership to check and renumber old cellphones and pass them on to Women's Refuge, so it makes a lot of sense for us to jump on board that initiative.
"Often women in violent relationships don't have access to telephones or money . . . so a cellphone can be a safety net for them."
Women's Refuge was the association's Capping charity for 2009 and the association wanted to support them in any way possible, Ms Murchison said.
The cellphone campaign would run indefinitely and Ms Murchison said she hoped students would also donate disused models.
"Most of us have one or two lying around which we have never got round to getting rid of. Give them to us and we can recycle them."
Cellphones can be left at the association's offices at 640 Cumberland St.
