“ Use it up; Wear it out; Make it do, or Do Without”

One of the most pressing environmental concerns today is the management and disposal of our e-waste. E-Waste is categorized by the government of India under the broad class of hazardous waste. Over the last two decades, spectacular advances in technology and the changing lifestyle of people has led to an increasing rate of consumption of electronic appliances. The question that arises, however, is how to dispose these in an effective and responsible manner.

In order to address this very significant issue, a workshop on the Management of E-Waste was conducted at St. Joseph’s Sr. Sec. School, Sector 44-D, Chandigarh. The Guest Speaker was the eminent Shri. Nagendra Pratap Singh, Assistant Manager- Karo Sambhav Pvt. Ltd. and Founder of the not-for- profit Waste Management Company ‘and consulted SWM Project Tsangda’ , managed by the rural development of Leh Ladakh.

The workshop apprised students about what comprises e-waste, how it is hazardous and how we as responsible stakeholders can help to curb the reckless disposal of e-waste. Mr. Nagender shared that we need to create a “Circular Economy’ wherein we give back to earth what we have taken from it so that we never run out of resources. He shared that we can manage e-waste disposal by taking help from authorized government bodies and not through the informal sector if we aim to responsibly fulfill our bit.

During the interactive session, the students also posed queries pertaining to disposing the e waste intelligently and interacted animatedly . Huge cartons of e waste which was collected by the Josephian family were handed over to the Organisers for recycling and repurposing.

The workshop proved to be extremely fruitful as the Josephians pledged to follow the 5 R’s religiously. They also promised to ensure that they would follow all the tips given to them while disposing of their e- waste and further spread awareness about the same.

Principal Ms. Monica Chawla said that the school has already been following the norms to be a Plastic free zone and reiterated the Buyerarchy system proposed by her that was being implemented by the members of the Josephian family wherein we reduce our needs and desires by buying less. After all, it’s ultimately up to us all to protect and conserve our Mother Earth so what better time to start but now and who better to start with than us.