Westbrook-Walnut Grove (WWG) Earth YES! class has been working on many projects throughout the semester. Their current project has them out in the communities collecting old cellphones for recycling with the intention that these cellphones will stay out of our landfills and even benefit our environment!
Both the school and greater community are involved in their campaign. The students have put up posters and flyers around the schools to encourage participation. They also partnered with banks in both Walnut Grove and Westbrook to serve as drop-off sites for phone donations.
The phones are going to GRC Wireless Recycling, where they will be 100% recycled. Approximately 60% of recycled cellphones will be refurbished and go to areas of the world in need of affordable communication. The rest will be shredded and smelted at a copper refiner, and various metals will be “reclaimed” back to their natural state.
WWG Earth YES! will receive money for each phone they recycle and all profits will go towards their Lending Library. The Lending Library was started by the Earth YES! class to encourage the community to save energy by promoting the use of devices such as kilowatt meters, heat sensors, etc. The Lending Library will feature these devices and more that can checked out and used by community members to save energy!
