DoSomething.org, Best Buy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) ENERGY STAR Program teamed up to encourage teens to recycle their unwanted electronics that may have otherwise ended up in local landfills. Teens across the country signed up to help at www.dosomething.org/ewasteand each team was able to gather an average of 300 pieces, totaling in over 59,000 pieces of e-waste.
The campaign went from August 15 to October 1 and called for teens to run localized “E-Waste Drives” in their schools, homes or communities. They got people to drop off their e-waste at their local Best Buy store and Best Buy pushed ENERGY STAR products for their next purchase.
You see folks, we in the USA throw away over 1.5 million tons of e-waste each year. Recycling is one simple step everyone can take to protect the environment!!!
“We’re so glad we teamed up with DoSomething.org and EPA’s ENERGY STAR program on this year’s E-Waste Drive campaign,” said Leo Raudys, senior director, environmental sustainability, Best Buy. “Consumer electronics has been a rapidly growing waste stream on the planet. Through this campaign teens made a real difference with their recycling actions and awareness raising tactics.”
The environment has continued to be a high priority for
DoSomething.org teens. “It never fails to surprise me how passionate and conscious teens are about the environment—and the E-Waste Drive campaign was no exception,” says April Wright who heads up the campaign for DoSomething.org. “These teens proved that being a ‘Planeteer’ isn’t just a term from an animated television series in the 90s; they are ready and willing to protect our environment now.”
With new cell phones, laptops, TVs and other electronics always hitting the market, many electronics are becoming outdated quickly. Through the E-Waste Drive/ENERGY STAR Pledges made during the e-waste campaign, participants have committed to more than 1 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions reductions.
The top 10 drives across the country were rewarded with Best Buy gift cards. One drive, Valparaiso High School from Valparaiso, Indiana collected 4,594 pieces of e-waste. For their outstanding work both in executing their drive and educating their community, they won a $10,000 educational grant to be split evenly among all team members.
