The Motivation of choosing Electronic Waste
Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 The Problem
E-Waste can be defined by the New York City Department of Education E-Waste Policy as discarded electronic equipment that contains heavy metals, (i.e mercury and lead) and includes desktop computers, laptops, computer monitors, printers and television. While this definition is exclusive to proper E-waste disposal in New York City Schools it is not perfect. The community that this problem was studied in was a local high school, Thomas A Edison CTE High School. Edison offers various CTE programs that produce electronic waste requiring proper disposal the same way a business would. Knowing that families, students, the environment, and wildlife all around the world are being affected by the detrimental effects of E-waste is the main motivation to tackle this problem. The World Health Organization acknowledges the dangers and detrimental effects of electronic waste on wildlife. When conducting a short survey throughout two senior classes ar Edison, 17 out of 20 students responded with saying that they did not believe the improper disposal of electronic waste was a problem and more than half of those respondents also did not know what “e-waste” meant.
1.2 The Driving Question
The driving question behind the matter of tackling electronic waste in schools across New York City is, “Can New York City reduce the amount of electronic waste that is improperly disposed of by making students, staff and the community aware of the detrimental effects of electronic waste and providing a convenient form of disposal for them?” This question was created through the research that was conducted and the experiences that were taken into account when exploring the widely underestimated detriment of electronic waste. This question includes various aspects that need to be taken into account when trying to create solutions as well as include the necessary parties that need to be involved.
1.3 The Community
This problem of tackling Edison E-waste allows the opportunity to frequently check-in with the involved parties and track progress. Once this resolution is piloted and tweaked to be effective in isolating E-waste and reducing the amount that ends up in improper disposal sites, it is hoped that this will be able to expand to other schools and even workspaces. The pilot class is the cybersecurity sophomore and junior classes taught by Mr.Perez because of the past knowledge acquired on the E-waste that is generated and the problems that are facing in disposing of E-waste so it would be able to generate the most results from the shop class that is most familiar. Once this has been proven successful in the target pilot class, it will expand to other identified shop classes that the teachers have agreed to such as Mr. Kalloo’s Cisco class and Mr. Roopnarine’s automotive class. Categorizing the types of E-waste generated by those classes will also help to make observations on the progress made and tweak the resolution to have the utmost effectiveness.
1.4 Obstacles Encountered
When researching and developing this resolution, a few different obstacles were encountered including reaching out to the proper parties that would help serve as a guide, learning about the different types of electronics that are used in the shop classes across the school and whether they need special disposal, and learning the disposal policies of the manufacturers of the electronic equipment that is used. These obstacles were overcome by first contacting a shop teacher, Mr. Jaikaran, as he also teaches a sophomore cybersecurity class and knew how E-waste in Edison is generated and disposed of. He was able to provide a list of manufacturers that are used including Linksys, Cisco, Dell, and Lenovo, and explain where anyone in the public could go to learn more about how manufacturers schedule the pickup of their electronics with the school. This opened even more opportunities such as being able to look at policies by the individual manufacturers and have similar conversations with other shop department teachers.
1.5 Resolving Hindrances
Although these obstacles were overcome, it can be expected to encounter more such as teaching students how the mitigation of electronic waste can be helpful and incentivizing them to use it as opposed to throwing everything in the regular waste stream. The partnership of peers has assisted in resolving this issue by using Flash Drives with presentations and lessons that can be individualized per shop if need be in order to teach students on the safety concerns of improper disposal of E-waste. Communication has also taken place with Mr. Perez and Mr. Jaikaran to develop posters that are attention-grabbing yet short and direct that would help students learn and make the transition to disposing of E-waste in the proper format. A system has also been developed as a future integration into shop classes to incentivize students to properly dispose of electronic waste by completing safety courses and practice proper disposal as part of student grades as a way to incentivize students. However, this is something that is a longer-term goal
1.6 Research on The Community
According to the New York City Department of Education’s policies and the Department of Sanitation policies, no other New York City school has e-waste isolation and disposal like what is being proposed. No other school has student-generated solutions that have been researched, tested, and tweaked like what this resolution will include. Not only does this need to happen in Career and Technical Education schools like Thomas Edison, but it also needs to be implemented in all New York City schools. Now more than ever, the use of technological devices to assist learning is present with the usage of Chromebooks, Desktops, laptops, Ipads, and many more. While E-waste makes up less than half of a percent of all waste in NYC schools, the large detrimental impacts that they have on the community and environment are far too drastic to be ignored. Even at half of one percent, it equates to 140 million pounds of electronic waste. By using this resolution, it is possible to isolate E-waste and keep it out of our regular waste streams and prevent it from causing harm to others around the world.
When implemented, as intended in the Fall of 2021, the proposed resolution will be presented in shop classes with the number of integrated disposal systems varying by grade level, shop department, and how large the E-waste is and finally how much is expected to be produced. This can be altered over time depending on the needs of the shop class in order to maintain sufficient E-waste disposal systems in each and every shop class. Overall, this will reduce the E-waste that is improperly disposed of from our school and gradually benefit ourselves, our community, our environment, and the world.
Citations
Bhutta, et al. “Electronic Waste: A Growing Concern in Today's Environment.” Economics Research International, Hindawi, 15 June 2011, www.hindawi.com/journals/ecri/2011/474230/.
Cali Carting. “The Growing Problem of e-Waste.” Cali Carting, Cali Carting, 23 Jan. 2020, www.calicarting.com/blog/the-growing-problem-of-e-waste/.
DSNY - The City of New York Department of Sanitation, www1.nyc.gov/assets/dsny/site/services/electronics/electronics-drop-off-locations.
DSNY - The City of New York Department of Sanitation, www1.nyc.gov/assets/dsny/site/services/electronics/overview-electronics-guidelines.