Submitted by Safiya D., Girl Scout Gold Award candidate
Metro Denver
Aurora
* Safiya became a Gold Award Girl Scout, earning the highest honor in Girl Scouts, in January 2021.
I have been a Girl Scout for 10 years. Currently, I am working on my Gold Award, which is the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn. The Gold Award focuses on addressing a community-based problem. My project, The E-waste Recycling Exposé, tackles the lack of education regarding technology recycling (e-recycling) in my city of Aurora. I am developing a curriculum for fourth and fifth graders that teaches them what technology recycling is and why it is important.
When I was researching my project, I was disappointed to learn that in comparison to paper, plastic, and glass recycling, only 20% of electronics actually get recycled in the United States. I thought that if I could educate kids and get them excited about e-recycling, it might make them think more about actually recycling their old electronics.
My curriculum is comprised of :
An introductory video that shows me taking an old family computer to be recycled
A PowerPoint that explains the technology recycling process
A video I created that shows how to take apart a laptop computer and find the recyclable parts
Interactive and hands on games that I created for the kids that will make understanding e-recycling fun
Pre and post surveys to evaluate what the participants have learned from the program
In creating my curriculum, I had a few goals in mind. I wanted students to get excited about electronics recycling. And most importantly, I wanted them to go home and talk to their families about its importance and encourage them to participate in the recycling of their old electronics. If we care about our planet, participating in technology recycling is important. When you look at the statistics, many landfills are filled with electronics and the more we care about this issue, the easier it will become to have a clean Earth.
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