Raising Savvy, Digital Kids Also Means Teaching Responsible E-cycling #Ecycle

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.

My kids are growing up to be savvy little digital consumers. In fact, you could call us gadget girls and I think we’d all be okay with that. We love our technology and in fact, the newer the better. My consulting business relies on the theory that the fastest electronics are the best electronics. As a blogger, I am also often sent gadgets to review and use. Some remain active long-term and others get passed through the house from owner to owner before they lose their relevance. Sometimes that means the dead gadgets and cords and chargers pile up in a drawer in my office.

For my daughter’s most recent birthday she received an iPod, which means everyone in my home is now digitally connected and active. At Christmas both girls got laptops. At some point after about 9 years old, children’s currency is no longer Dora, Barbie or Hot Wheels, but smartphones, mp3 players, and tablets. Unfortunately, for every gadget someone in my family receives, that typically means an older gadget dies a quick death and lands in a box of electronics waste waiting to move on.

Thankfully, my kids are also smart, savvy recyclers. From a young age, both of my girls would scan their environment for things that could be recycled or reused and they would up-cycle or recycle. It’s ingrained in their young and growing brains as a way of life, but what about the technology that expires? What do we do with that?

It’s important that as my kids grow they also learn to recycle electronics so they don’t end up in landfill. It’s important to my husband and I that we teach them how to dispose of or recycle old batteries and gadgets as part of their responsibility in a digital world. For a list of electronics recycling drop off locations in your area, set up by the Ontario Electronic Stewardship, check here: recycleyourelectronics.ca/drop-off-locations/

Ontario students between grade 4 and grade 10 now have access to comprehensive and up-to-date curriculum materials about the many ways in which technology impacts our world. The curriculum is teacher designed and board approved and also spearheaded by the Ontario Electronic Stewardship, the industry-led not-for-profit organization responsible for recycling electronics in Ontario. The curriculum will highlight why recycling out-of-use electronics is so important for our planet. Students in 32 schools across Ontario will also have the chance to take part in a hands-on experience that brings the recycling story to life.

Children are the future for every province. It’s important they learn to take responsibility for their environment. Recycling electronics responsibly is just part of growing up digital.

Did you know:

• Recycling one metric tonne of laptops can save the energy equivalent to power 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.

For more information about the new curriculum materials and information about the environmental benefit of recycling electronics visit: RecycleYourElectronics.ca.

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.