Since 2020, Grade 4 students at Our Lady of the Assumption elementary school have been inspiring reduction of e-waste in their southeast Lethbridge neighbourhood. Each fall in the week before Hallowe’en students make flyers advertising an e-waste round-up and distribute them door-to-door to about 100 households in the vicinity of the school. Arrangements are made to pick up items or have them dropped off at the school. There is a designated space for storage of the e-waste before students load it into a vehicle for delivery to the Lethbridge Waste and Recycling Centre.

“The e-waste recycling project fits under the waste management component of the Grade 4 curriculum” says teacher Kayla Stellar. She took over leadership of the project in 2022 from
former teacher Christina Baptista. “We appreciate the contribution of Paige Rosner, environmental educator with the Helen Schuler Nature Centre, who picks up and delivers the
waste to the Waste & Recycling Centre.”

Total weight of the items collected is recorded annually. “I’m amazed that the project has diverted approximately 925 kg of e-waste from the Lethbridge landfill over five years”, says
Stellar. “Every little bit counts, and the little bits build up to something big over time”.

According to Stellar electrical items collected for recycling include phones, computers, power cords, batteries, televisions, microwaves, toasters, fans, shavers, hair-dryers and curling irons.
E-waste contains substances like mercury, cadmium and lead that are considered toxic in the landfill but when extracted are valuable for reuse in new electronic appliances

“The students anticipate this annual event and take ownership of it, inspiring a positive attitude towards recycling throughout the school” says Stellar. “This initiative also provides
useful life skills and habits for the students and sets an example for the larger community of action that protects our environment. I am optimistic this program will continue for many
years to come.”

Other environmental initiatives at Our Lady of the Assumption school include blue-bin recycling, a pack-in pack-out lunch model, building upgrades for greater energy efficiency and a
‘maker space’ for drop-off of items that can be reused for art, science and math projects (e.g. cardboard boxes, magazines, plastic lids, toilet paper tubes). It is the only school south of
Calgary to be designated an IB World School offering the Primary Years Programme.