Don’t Trash your Tech- Teach Your Children how to Recycle Their Gadgets

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.

 In this day and age, our homes are filled with technology. It is imperative that we stress the importance of proper disposal of our out-of-use electronics to our children. They are the future after all.

 Do you recycle your electronics when their day in the proverbial sun has reached an end?

Chances are, the answer is no.

Hey, I am not judging you. Until a short while ago, I wasn’t entirely clear on how to properly recycle our technology either! Now I know it’s important and I want to share our experiences with you.

How We Learned to Recycle Electronics

When I said that we had no idea how to recycle electronics, I wasn’t kidding. For a long time, we had no idea that we were supposed to do that at all.

One day, one of my friends came over. We were doing some spring cleaning and I expressed my frustration with all the “gadgets” and old stuff we had. I picked up an old DVD player that didn’t have a hope on earth of ever working again, looked at her and said: “Like this!? What the heck do I do with this!?”

That is when I was schooled. She told me about the importance of recycling our electronics and explained that there are drop-offs in many different locations. I had never really thought about it!

That night, I researched and then researched some more. I couldn’t believe what I had been missing and showed my husband! We decided that we were going to talk to the kids about this the next day.

My children are the “Why” kids. They always want to know the “why” behind every little thing. So of course, the first question we got when we brought up the topic of recycling electronics was, you guessed it: “Why?”

Why Recycle Electronics?

Reusable

There are some components and metals contained in our electronics that can be recycled and made into new things.

Good for the environment

There are different components in certain electronics that should not end up in our landfills and need to be safely recycled.

Did You Know?

Recycling one metric tonne of laptops can save the energy equivalent of powering 710 Ontario homes in a year?

Yeah, I didn’t know that either. That’s A LOT of saved energy!

 

How to Teach Your Children to Recycle Electronics

Play

Put together some games you can play with your children to help make recycling their outdated electronics fun! Have a scavenger hunt to have your children find all electronics in your home in need of recycling. Make it a task for them to use their resources to find what they should do with each item. For every item they find in need of recycling, a prize is rewarded.

Read

Visit RecycleYourElectronics.ca to find more information and discuss how recycling electronics can positively impact the environment.

Watch

Watch videos together that provide information on why recycling electronics is a great choice.  Videos like the one below are a great way to find more information!

Visit

Visit your local drop-off location (find drop-off locations in your area through this website: www.recycleyourelectronics.ca/drop-off-locations) with your kids. Sometimes, they have educational tours going on! Which can be incredibly informational.

Discuss

Allow the discussion to flow! Discuss the “why” behind recycling your electronics with your kids. Allow them to ask all the questions they need to. Use the various resources mentioned above to address their questions.

Recycling electronics is very important, not only for our environment but also for our children’s future.

Learn More

The Ontario Electronic Stewardship is touring schools through April/May that will teach children the importance of recycling electronics.

Students in 32 schools across Ontario will have the opportunity to participate in a hands-on, immersive experience that brings the recycling story to life.

To find out more about the new curriculum materials, visit www.RecycleYourElectronics.ca.

Do you Recycle Your Electronics?

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.