TechCollect’s 2017 Young E-waste Hero Competition called for primary and secondary students across Australia to tell us how they would spread the e-waste recycling message. Four JB Hi-Fi gift vouchers were up for grabs, as well as the opportunity to share their e-waste recycling messages with the country.
We received a huge number of imaginative ideas and would like to thank all the young Australians (and their encouraging parents) who took part and raised awareness about the importance of recycling e-waste. After all, the youngest generation of Australians holds the key to a sustainable future and they are the greatest ambassadors of positive e-waste recycling!
Congratulations to our four Young E-waste Heroes for 2017! Below are their winning ideas on how they would spread the e-waste recycling message and why recycling is important to them.
Emily – Primary School, Year 3 – 1st prize
“At school we have working bees. We should have “not working bees” where everyone drops off ‘not working’ items ready to be collected for recycling.”
1.What made you decide to enter the Young E-Waste Hero challenge?
My Mum told me about the Young E-Waste Hero challenge and I liked that I could help more people know about recycling electrical items.
2. What was your entry idea and how did you come up with it?
At school we always have Saturday working bees for parents to come and do gardening at the school. I thought schools should host a “Not working bee” and all the parents can go to school on Saturday to drop off their not working electrical items for recycling. I was trying to think of something that is easy so all parents can do it.
3. What will you do with your prize?
Mum is going to take me to JB Hi-Fi soon so I can look at all the choices. I might buy a PlayStation so I play Just Dance. I don’t know yet.
4. Why do you think e-Waste awareness is so important?
People might not know that you shouldn’t throw out electrical items. If we don’t tell everyone then it will go to landfill and that’s very bad for the environment.
5. What is something interesting that you learned about e-Waste that people might not realise?
That you can recycle things like clocks and cables.
6. Do you do any other things to help the environment?
I always pick up plastic bags on the ground and put it in the garbage bin so it doesn’t go down the drain. If it gets to the ocean then it can be eaten by a turtle who thinks it’s a jellyfish. The turtle can get sick if it eats the bag and can then be eaten by a shark.
7. What do you want to be when you grow up?
I would like to be a babysitter or a nurse.
Hamish – Kindergarten, 2nd prize
“A story book with a super hero who collects old stuff. Drives a recycling rocket. Don’t chuck it out… recycle it in.”
1. What made you decide to enter the Young E-Waste Hero challenge?
Mummy found it and we talked about recycling. Recycling garbage trucks are my favourite.
2. What was your entry idea and how did you come up with it?
A space rocket super hero that picks up e-waste to be recycled.
3. What will you do with your prize?
Buy an iPad (I think we will have a look and see what educational things they have first (mum)).
4. Why do you think e-Waste awareness is so important?
(From mum) Everything is thrown away, even e-tech. We don’t reuse anything. The oceans and landfill are filthy and it’s about time we got to the children and educate them from day one so we can reuse all we can.
5. Do you do any other things to help the environment?
Put bottles and cardboard in the yellow bin. I take it out with daddy each night.
6. How are you going to spread the e-waste recycling message around your local community?
Tell my friends at kindy and sport.
7. What do you want to be when you grow up?
I’d have a big monster truck job.
Sophie – Secondary School, Year 10 – 1st prize
“Spreading awareness of e-waste recycling on social media in the form of memes would get the message across as millions of people view them!”
1. What made you decide to enter the Young E-Waste Hero challenge?
I decided to enter the competition because it popped up on my newsfeed and the prize was huge, and I knew exactly what I could use the gift card on! I also entered because e-waste recycling is a very important topic and more awareness needs to be spread.
2. What was your entry idea and how did you come up with it?
My entry idea was to spread awareness of e-waste recycling on social media in the form of memes. Memes are a picture with text explaining the image and can be funny but can also get important messages across. I came up with this idea from observing my own social media feed which is filled with memes and also seeing how popular they are.
3. What will you do with your prize?
I will be using the prize to go towards buying a MacBook which I will be using for my school work next year.
4. Why do you think e-waste recycling is so important?
I believe that e-Waste recycling is so important because by recycling devices we can use them to make more devices and be more efficient. Millions of new devices are being made daily and by recycling our old ones we can stop using so many materials. E-Waste recycling is also important because some devices can contain toxic chemicals. These toxins can be harmful when released into the environment so by containing these chemicals and by reusing them we are reducing the amount of toxins being released into our environment.
5. Do you do any other things to help the environment?
At home I do a few small things to help the environment such as making sure that green waste and recycling are separated into their correct bins. I also have chickens at home and feed them our compost.
6. How are you going to spread the e-waste recycling message around your local community?
In my community I will spread the e-Waste recycling message by making sure that my friends and family are aware of how they can recycle their electronic devices. I will also make sure to spread awareness on social media by sharing some TechCollect posts or even creating my own memes on how I believe e-Waste recycling is important. I could even potentially make my workplace aware of e-waste recycling and make sure that they are recycling any old electronics correctly.
7. What do you want to be when you grow up?
I’m not one hundred percent sure of what I would like to be when I grow up but so far I would like to help those who suffer from mental health issues as this is a growing concern in society. So I would potentially like to study psychology and be a school psychologist or councillor and help teenagers who are suffering from issues at home, or their own mental health. Another thing I’m interested in is language and literature and would like to someday be an author and publish my own books.
Crystal – Secondary School,Year 9 – 2nd prize
“To produce a photography series in which showing how much e-waste there is and the affect it has on the earth.”
1. What made you decide to enter the Young E-Waste Hero challenge?
The Young E-Waste challenge is a challenge for people ages 5-18 to create an idea on how to spread the word on E-Waste and how it affects the earth. The post popped up in my news feed and I saw a good opportunity to share my thoughts.
2. What was your entry idea and how did you come up with it?
My idea was to create a photography series and I have had that idea for some time being interested in photography myself. This can create a more in depth look at how we should be recycling and caring for nature more than we are at the moment.
3. What will you do with your prize?
I will be purchasing a new laptop for school and to edit photos that I take now. I will also be getting a new phone as the current one I have is a few years old and it is starting to sadly come to the time to be recycled.
4. Why do you think e-waste recycling is so important?
If we didn’t recycle our old technology toxic metals, such as Chromium and Mercury, would be released into the environment affecting the air we breathe and the wild life around us. Recycling technology is just as important as recycling plastic!
5. Do you do any other things to help the environment?
I recycle as a priority, I compost and feed waste to chickens and we buy local produce as much as we can to save on transport pollution. It’s a start but there is always more I can look to be doing as I get older.
7. How are you going to spread the e-waste recycling message around your local community?
I am hoping to take my idea around on Facebook and my town and hopefully in the future I can create a large campaign about E-waste. It is a topic that I will always support and be proud to share with others.
6. What do you want to be when you grow up?
I would like to be a pediatric nurse or psychologist in the future.
Do you want to be the next Young E-waste Hero?
We run our Young E-waste Hero Competition every year in November, so keep an eye on our website and Facebook page later in the year for your chance to become our next Young E-waste Hero!
