In a year where so many have relied on technology, one MICDS Middle Schooler decided to coordinate an electronic waste collection drive for grades 5-8. Enter 8th grader Saivi Gadi ’25, who asked a question that was inspired by her own day-to-day life: what happens to her family’s old electronics when they replace them with new ones? Soon, she was on a mission to learn and educate others about proper e-waste disposal. She also began her Science Fair project centered on a hypothesis that if people become more aware of what to responsibly do with their e-waste, they will change and improve their actions.
On the recommendation of JK-12 Science Department Chair Dr. Bob Shaw, Gadi paired MICDS with Executive Personal Computers, Inc. (EPC), an organization that helps dispose of end-of-life IT items in an environmentally responsible way. EPC strives to strengthen global sustainability and promote technology recycling. Saivi wanted to not only educate her peers about e-waste disposal, but she wanted to also give them an actionable step they could take to easily dispose of their electronic waste at MICDS.
From February 22 through March 5, families were invited to deliver old electronic items to certain areas of the Middle School—and what a success this was! Gadi coordinated with MICDS teachers and staff, made a promotional flyer, and the following items were collected as of Thursday, March 4:
- 13 Laptops
- 3 Routers
- 2 Keyboards
- 2 PalmPilots
- 2 Printers
- 2 Tablets
- 1 Cell phone
- 1 Desktop-Based Computer
- 1 Mouse
- A bag of batteries and a lot of chargers and cords
- Several miscellaneous items: 1 pencil sharpener, 1 hairdryer, 1 digital frame, 1 camera lens
Gadi was thrilled with the results of the collection. « It’s not about having an awesome project, » she said. « I wanted to make people more aware of e-waste so that they would have the education and awareness to responsibly dispose of it in a more sustainable way. » It’s safe to say her collection is a huge success!
For the Science Fair piece of this project, Gadi put together questions for her 8th grade peers to gauge the level of knowledge they initially had about e-waste disposable. She found that many of them thought they could recycle their old technology items, but they did not know where to do so. Gadi then shared a Loom Video to educate them on the current statistics and processes in place for handling e-waste in an environmentally-friendly way.
Following the video, she again asked several questions to measure the impact of the educational video in pursuit of her mission to spread responsible e-waste disposable education. Although she is still in the middle of evaluating her results, which she’ll present at the virtual Science Fair on April 22, she has already observed that her friends and classmates know what to do with their old electronic devices. Many of them even donated to her drive this week!
Thanks to Gadi, many more MICDS community members now know what to do with their electronic waste. What a positive impact will continue being made for many years to come, armed with this important knowledge! Congrats to Saivi on organizing such a successful, important drive, and thank you to all who responsibly donated their old technology items!