This post is part of the YummyMummyClub.ca and Ontario Electronic Stewardship #Ecycle sponsored program. I received compensation as a thank you for my participation. This post reflects my personal opinion about the information provided by the sponsors.
It’s Earth Month, which means it’s a good reminder that we should try to make some changes in our lives to help keep the earth green and beautiful!
My son has recently joined the Green Team at his school which makes me happy. He’s long been exposed to our conversations about recycling, reducing the amount of ‘stuff’ we have, composting and so on. I’ve already noticed that he’s paying more attention because he’s shutting lights off in the house when he notices they’ve been left on. It’s these little changes that lead to big differences.
Meanwhile, in my daughter’s kindergarten class, they’ve started to compost. It seems the entire school has come on board with green initiatives and I’m really happy about that!
We recycle a lot in this house. We aren’t perfect about it and there are certainly things we are throwing out that we should pay more attention to, but we try. Even the kids know that we have different bins for compost, garbage and that recycling is split by paper vs. plastic. And now, with each of the kids learning about it at school (not only at home), we are all making more conscious efforts to help our environment.
But what about the electronics? Our electronics graveyard sits in one of our storage closets, waiting for us to decide what to do with the items. In the past, we have recycled most electronics, or dropped them off at depots to be recycled. It seems we have another batch to deal with. The one place we don’t put them? In the garbage.
I’m amazed how many old computer monitors and keyboards I see by the curb on garbage day. There are better ways to get rid of those items and the landfill is not one of them.
Not sure what to do with your electronics? Find a recycling drop off
The Ontario Electronic Stewardship arranges drop off points for recycling your old electronics. On their website, you can find a drop-off location near you.
Doesn’t it make sense to take your old electronics someplace to be recycled, rather than throwing them in the garbage? I think it does!
Want hard facts? The Ontario Electronic Stewardship has a few!
- Recycling electronics is great for the environment. In fact, recycling one metric tonne of laptops can save the energy equivalent of powering 710 Ontario homes in a year.
- Recycling out-of-use electronics means we have to mine fewer raw materials like copper and gold.
- For every one million cell phones recycled, 35,000 pounds of copper and 75 pounds of gold can be recovered.
- The gold recovered from recycled phones produces 324 times more gold than from the same weight of ore processed in a traditional mine.
Teachers who are interested in learning more about how they can get their classrooms involved can visit the Recycle Your Electronics website. Maybe it’s time for a Green Team at your school if you don’t already have one!
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For more information about how you can recycle your electronics and the impact it has on the environment visit RecycleYourElectronics.ca
It’s not just adults who can help the environment. Learn how your children can cut down on e-waste too.
Then travel back in time and see how many of these pieces of “leading edge technology” you remember.
