Trisha Bhattacharya and Soorya Balasubramanian, students of classes 9 and 10 from Vibgyor High School in Goregaon, were behind this initiative.
An e-waste collection drive might seem simple as an idea. But what if getting rid of your unused or scrapped electronic items could fund the education of a child?
Well, two Mumbai students not only conceptualised but also successfully executed the idea to raise funds for the education of over 17,000 underprivileged students!
Brilliant, right?
According to a report in The Times of India, Trisha Bhattacharya and Soorya Balasubramanian, students of classes 9 and 10 from Vibgyor High School in Goregaon, were behind this initiative.
They got the idea when they decided to participate in a pan-India competition–where they had to pick up a cause, make a blueprint for the plan of action, and scale the impact.
Speaking to the publication, Soorya revealed how Vibgyor had already initiated several social campaigns. And while segregation of dry and wet waste was already in place, the idea of an e-collection drive wasn’t executed in its full capacity.
And so, the duo decided to pick it up. Their team won fourth place.
But little did the students know, the work and impact of the drive would continue long after the competition was over.
Soorya told ToI, “As we were working on the campaign, we decided to continue with it through the year, even after the contest got over.”
The teenagers first mobilised kids from their own school to donate e-waste from their homes.
“Most homes have non-functional cell phones, chargers and other electronic appliances lying around because we don’t know what to do with them. We found a non-profit, India Development Foundation, which collected the e-waste and sold it to a recycling company. The money raised was used to educate over 17,000 underprivileged students,” Trisha informed the publication.
The collection drive was a success, where the students collected over 180 kg of e-waste.
Read More: Got Old Gadgets You Don’t Use? The Rajasthan Govt. Will Now Buy Your e-Waste!
“Everyone has been very supportive about donating e-waste. We have received washing machines, laptops, chargers and mobile phones in abundance because people usually don’t know what to do with non-functioning appliances,” Soorya told the publication.
But the teenagers did not stop there.
For the last month, they have hosted collection drives in three housing societies in the western suburbs, which have received promising responses from the residents.
The duo is now looking forward to getting more students on board to keep the project running.
We wish them the very best!
(Edited by Shruti Singhal)
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