Try to imagine 75 iPads and 40-50 computers. In their efforts to donate old electronics to local Wallingford organizations, the Information Technology Services (ITS) office gathered more than 100 iPads and laptops from the Choate community that were not being used to give away this spring.
Various organizations such as Wallingford public schools, the Wallingford Public Library, the Wallingford Senior Center, the Spanish Community of Wallingford, Ball & Socket Arts, West Haven High School, and the Wallingford STEM School received these electronics. Choate also donated some of the laptops to an on-campus student club, Girls for Girls, a mentorship program between underprivileged female students in the Bahamas and female students at Choate.
Mr. Andrew Speyer, Director of ITS, explained, “Our goal is to make the donation pile bigger than the trash pile. We don’t want to add to our landfills, so we try to reuse equipment as much as we possibly can.”
For this year’s collection process, Mr. Speyer sent out a note to faculty and staff asking them to donate old electronics. “We usually like to have a combination of causes inside and outside of Wallingford,” he said. “I think the most exciting thing we do is when we give technology to underprivileged areas, whether it’s Africa, South America, or the Bahamas. That’s the biggest reward I get out of doing the program. There are plenty of organizations in the local area that are in need as well, but bridging the digital divide in those areas is really good for the world as a whole.”
This is not the first time that Choate has lent a hand to other communities, local or international. Choate has donated school-owned electronic products no longer in use for the past six years. Mr. Speyer cited an example: “We gave a lot of computers to Wallingford public schools last year. We’re committed to helping our neighbors in Wallingford.”
The ITS department has devised a life cycle for all school-owned electronic products in order to reduce their environmental impact. A few years after an initial purchase, laptops and iPads are refurbished or repurposed. As the school distributes newer iPad models to teachers, the old iPads may be relocated to the library or used for summer programs. Then, ITS eventually sifts through the electronics to sort products that can be donated and products that need to be taken apart or recycled. This step is vital in keeping Choate at the forefront of the growing STEM movement while minimizing its carbon footprint. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, in 2012, the United States alone produced about 3.4 million tons of electronic waste, but only about 29% of that was recycled.
Mr. Speyer hopes to increase student involvement in this venture. He remarked, “It would be cool to have a student club be more involved in the process. Right now, we just donate what we own. No one has approached us yet, but we are very open to the idea.”
