Student Council

The MIIS Student Council presents an E-Waste Fundraiser for Sparks Micro Grants! Help your program(s) raise the most E-waste in February & Win a prize for your program! Stay tuned for more information from your program reps!

Every year, an estimated 135,000,000 cell phones are discarded in the US alone and only 13% are collected for reuse or recycle! Read some more facts about cell phone waste.

• The production of cell phones are dependent on one or more rare metals such as platinum, palladium,rhodium and even gold!
• The mining of metals for cell phones and other electronics is the #1 cause of toxic pollution in the U.S.!
• Over 100 million cell phones are stockpiled in U.S. households creating 50,000 tons of potentially
• hazardous waste.
• On average Americans replace their cell phones every 12-18 months.
• Cell phones contain toxic substances including Arsenic, Antimony, Beryllium, Cadmium, Copper, Lead, Nickel and Zinc which leach into soil and groundwater and form toxins during incineration which have been associated cancer and a range of reproductive, neurological and developmental disorders.
• The cadmium from a single cell phone is capable of polluting 158,200 gallons of water. (That’s 2.4 million
• 8-ounce sodas!)
• Recycle Today!

WHAT’S SPARK 
Spark MicroGrants helps poverty-stricken communities in east Africa find and implement solutions to their most urgent problems. Spark provides unconditional grants to communities to build whatever project they decide they need the most (schools, health clinics, water wells, etc). Unlike most other organizations, Spark does not tell communities how to use the funds, but instead gives community members the trainings and skills to do it themselves. Since 2010, Spark has worked with 71 communities and impacted 31,000 individuals.

WHY PHONES
Spark facilitators work in some the most hard to reach communities in east Africa and spend hours each week “off the grid”. As you can imagine, that doesn’t make it easy to measure and record data. And it involves a lot of time consuming paper forms. The most efficient way to stay connected to our remote communities is by equipping our facilitators with better technology. With the money we receive from your old phone, we can purchase a smart phone for a Spark facilitator. In short, your old phone = no more paper forms and the facilitators have more time to spend with their communities.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

1. Participate in our phone drive!
2. Donate your phones – we know you have them sitting in one of those junk drawers. Don’t let it go to waste and donate it!
3. Spread the word – amplify your impact and share your drive or donation with friends on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr using @sparkmg and #DonateIt

Get started here: http://secondwaverecycling.com/spark-microgrants. Questions? Email britney@sparkmicrogrants.org