What happened to old radios, portable audio cassette players, black and white television sets and outdated mobile phones? – This was the question that inspired the students of G.K.D. Matriculation Higher Secondary School to take up the project ‘Awareness on e-waste management’.
The programme held at the school on Monday aimed to sensitise students and the general public on the accumulation of e-waste that would eventually result in ecological crisis. The students were asked to research and come up with measures to check this, said principal Prasanna Radhakrishnan. “The amount of electronic products discarded every year would amount to 20-50 million tons,” she said.
The students presented their ideas as pie-charts, maps, and survey reports. A model depicting the contribution of e-waste and an exhibit on cloud computing to minimise the use of electronic gadgets were among the works displayed by students.
The topics assigned to students of different classes included reasons for mounting up of e-waste, its effects on environment, steps to reduce e-waste, role of consumer awareness, and disposal and recycling of e-waste.
Innovative ideas like making water filters and coffee makers out of discarded computer parts, wall hangings, toothbrush holders and other creative works were presented under the topic ‘Wealth out of waste’.
Students of Standard VII presented their findings on the hazards of e-waste focusing on its effects on human body including the nervous system, heart and kidney. The survey by Standard VIII students revealed that 72 per cent of the house holds threw away e-waste, 11 per cent stored it in their houses while eight per cent reused them. Only two per cent of the households went for recycling in a duration of three years. Director of Ez Vidya Private Limited N. Valliappan and writer C. R. Elangovan were the guests for the event.
