Our planet is an amazing place, but it needs our help to thrive!  Each year, to celebrate Earth Day to protect the planet from things like pollution and deforestation, BLIA Toronto Chapter and the 6th Meadowvale Scouts jointly organize an electronic recycling event (E-Waste Recycling). This year, on April 23rd and 24th, the collection of the electronic waste event was co-organized by the BLIA Toronto Young Adult Division and the 6th Meadowvale Ventures. In the end, filling an entire shipping container, a total of 10,380 lbs of potentially toxic waste was diverted from landfills. 

The goal of this event was to help the environment by taking the e-waste to special facilities that can recycle the precious metalsfound in the electronics instead of all the electronics ending up in a landfill. These metals can be used to create more electronics instead of having to use other metals. When the electronics get thrown out in landfills, it hurts the environment because of the metals found instead of the electronics. Especially in old machines, since older electronics usually have a metal called lead in them, which is harmful to the environment. Also, e-waste is normally sent overseas to 3rd world countries which will harm their land and people as well, so this e-waste event reduces that impact.  

Helping the community was also something we had in mind. Normally, you would need to pay a company to remove large electronics; printers, computers, televisions, etc. But with the e-waste event, people can dispose of their electronics at no cost while helping the environment.  

The 6th Meadowvale Ventures normally hosts this event every year during the spring.  But unfortunately, during 2020-2021, the beginning and peak of COVID-19, the event had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. But from now on, the event should resume back to its usual annual schedule. It seems though, that during the pandemic people build up quite the amount of electronics needing to be disposed of. This resulted in people bringing in mass quantities of e-waste and making this year of e-waste one of the most successful years to date!  

In conclusion, this year's e-waste was a huge success. The goals of helping the environment and supporting the community were accomplished. Even with all the difficulties of the pandemic brought with it. The 6th Meadowvale Ventures have come back better than ever to help the community andenvironment. 

By the 6th Meadowvale Ventures

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