When Gia Liu was searching for post-secondary scholarships online, the Grade 12 student came across the Electronic Recycling Association’s Canada-wide scholarship competition.
“They try to get students across the country to collect electronic waste from their communities, so there’s different categories that you can actually win money,” says Liu.
This year the association is offering $100,000 if a student donates 100,000 items or $1,000,000 for 1,000,000 items.
After collecting e-waste by herself for the first few months, Liu paired with fellow Belmont classmate Sahrim Sayani to double up on their efforts.
“Working with schools, that’s my personal field that I’m doing right now working with schools to see if they’re able to give us their waste,” says Sayani.
“Gia’s been working on trying to find local community shops to give us stuff.”
The duo has collected hundreds of items and while winning the scholarship is their goal, doing good for the community is also high on the list.
“We’re just trying to help clean up the community as much as possible because we’re both really passionate about the environment,” says Sayani.
It’s also been a hands-on learning experience.
“It’s a really fun project to do because it’s not like writing paperwork, it’s actually going into the community and doing hands-on stuff,” says Liu.
“Driving around talking to people, expanding our little field, getting connections, all that has been a lot of fun.”
The deadline for the Electronic Recycling Association scholarship application is Sept. 1st. To donate any items visit their Instagram page.
Cole Sorenson
