impact of elektro waste (Elektroodpad dopad)
OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT
To point out the life cycle of electrical appliances since the moment of their production, through everyday usage all the way to the waste disposal.
To show pupils the possibilities of their own responsible behaviour in this area.
To create a school "information network" where young people will educate their school community.
Nowadays, the problem with the processing of electrical waste is growing.
The massive production of electrical appliances, reduced sales prices, the element of prestige and our current way of life continually increase the demand for new goods, which negatively influence the entire natural environment, mostly the southern countries as these are becoming the dumping places of toxic and hazardous waste.
Where does the electro waste go?
The aim of our research was to find out how often do we purchase electrical appliances and what we do with the old redundant ones. We handed out 100 questionnaires and got back 72 filled in ones.
In the first question we were finding out how often do people buy electrical appliances. Almost half of the respondents buy electrical appliances 2-5 times/year. What is more, two respondents buy electrical appliances once a month. Good news is, 1/3 of the respondents buys a new electrical appliances less often than once a year.
The second question was there to clarify the reason why people buy new electrical appliances. As many as ¾ of the respondents purchase new appliances when the old one becomes dysfunctional.
Question number 3 was was focusing on the place where people take their old electrical appliances. More than 1/3 of the respondents take them to the collection yards or to the electro shops and approximately ¼ of the people passes it on to a relative or stores it in their home. Almost all the respondents assume that the best way to get rid of a useless electrical appliance is to take it to the collection yards or in the designated locations. Only two of the respondents prefer to send such appliances to the ordinary municipal waste bins. More than half of the respondents believe that it is necessary to take the old aplliances to the collection yards because they contain harmful substances. ¼ of the respondents thinks also, that they contain precious metals.
We have found out that our society has to improve in many areas. For sure, all people should consider whether and when to buy a new electrical appliance and so contribute to creating less waste as such. It is not enough to separate waste, we must lower waste on Earth in general!
