October 14, 2011
Educating the Future of youchange
Author: Gian Solema
youchange has now started educating students about e-waste. You may remember last year when we wrote about the importance of developing countries educating their population about e-waste (Education Is Essential to Proper Handling of E-Waste) but it is even more important for our country to be properly educated as well. Being that the United States is a large contributor to the e-waste problem, we have to hold ourselves accountable for the electronics we produce and dispose. What better outlet than the youth, it’s about time youchange started teaching.
Last week concluded our visit to Gililland Middle School in Tempe, AZ. Morgan Walker, Cameron O’Toole, and I taught 6 classes at GMS’s Sustainability and Stewardship class over two days. Claudia Becho leads the sustainability class covering many different sustainability topics. GMS is one of the first schools in the Tempe school district with a Sustainabilty program.
We taught 6th-8th grade students about the e-waste problem. We started out by defining e-waste, then covered topics such as health effects, the status of e-waste in the United States and around the world, e-waste legislation, and responsible recycling. Much to our surprise, class after class, the students were able to respond and interpret all the information we were giving them. The classes learned about the e-waste drive we are going to have with them for America Recycle’s week.
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The message we sought to deliver was the importance of solving the e-waste problem and being leaders in their school to educate their peers and parents about the e-waste problem. From what we saw, the message was well received. We expect a good turn out during the two-week collection event we are going to have with them.
For youchange, this is only the beginning. The youth are the future consumers and designers of electronics, but more importantly they are the future GREEN Ambassadors of the youchange mission. As we get more and more schools involved we would not only provide them with a means of fundraising but also teach their students about e-waste. Educating the future of youchange starts with starts with you...and ends in ...and ends in change.
See our e-waste presentation here.