Program title:
The new life of this waste – as a kindergartener can do

Program participants: Karcagi Nagykun Education Center High School, Elementary School and Talentum Kindergarten preschool children, parents, kindergarten teachers, IT teachers and students, mobile phone repairers, computer repairers, household appliance repairers, Elektronikai Hulladékhasznosító Kft.
The program focuses on extending the life cycle of electrical and electronic devices, preventing them from becoming waste, professional collection and recycling, and all creative ideas that contribute to solving the problem of e-waste.
By implementing the European Waste Reduction Week program, we aim to draw attention to the prevention of waste generation, the possibilities of reuse and recycling, and to strengthen an environmentally conscious attitude. All of this is given a special role in kindergarten education, as it is at this age that children’s positive emotional relationship with nature and environmentally conscious behavior are established.
During the one-week program, children can experience how to protect the environment and how to give new life to objects that have become unnecessary through play, observation, creation and joint action. The topic of waste reduction is naturally integrated into everyday kindergarten life, helping to develop creative thinking, problem-solving skills, cooperation and responsibility.
Partnership with parents is of paramount importance during the implementation of the program. Involving families strengthens the development of environmentally conscious habits at home and creates an opportunity for children to experience shared responsibility through parental models. Parents can actively participate in collection campaigns, creation and help with the correct collection and transportation of waste.
The involvement of professionals and mechanics provides an opportunity for children to learn about the importance of repair, recycling, responsible consumption and conscious purchasing habits through real-life situations. Their participation contributes to children’s experiential learning.
Cooperation with an electronic waste management company is particularly important for the successful implementation of the program. With the help of a professional partner, the professional and safe management and processing of collected e-waste can be ensured, as well as the expansion of children and families’ knowledge about the waste path and the sustainable cycle. This cooperation shows children a real example of responsible environmental management and strengthens their experience that community cooperation can bring about real change.
The implementation of the European Waste Reduction Week in kindergartens is therefore not only a thematic program, but also a complex, experiential form of environmental education, in which children, teachers, families and professional partners work together for the sustainability of the future.
The European Waste Reduction Week Program is implemented in the Talentum Kindergarten of the Karcag Nagykun Reformed Educational Center.

1. Professional collection of e-waste

• Cooperation with the Karcag Electronic Waste Recycling Ltd.
• Getting to know the management of electronic waste generated in our environment:
Electronic Waste Recycling Ltd. – visit with large groups of kindergarten children and interested parents.
• Collection of e-waste during the European Waste Reduction Week: Parents can bring small, safe electronic waste that has become waste from home to the kindergarten to the designated collection point. (Small IT and telecommunication devices – mobile phones, routers, keyboards, tablets, GPS devices.
Small appliances – vacuum cleaners, microwave ovens, power tools, cameras, toys.)
“What is e-waste?”
• “Gadgets Review” – Organizing an exhibition of e-waste
Organizing an exhibition of e-waste, which allows children to learn about the objects and devices in their environment that, when no longer used, become electronic waste.
• Setting up an exhibition of old and new devices called “Phones Then and Now”.
• Transporting the collected waste to the Electronic Waste Recycling Company.

2. Recycling

• “Old gadgets get a new life!” – a creative competition for families made from electronic waste.
• Setting up an exhibition of creations in the kindergarten hall.
• Taking pictures with unused mobile phones: Children can capture interesting things and events with phones that are no longer used by their parents, but are still suitable for photography.
• Using electronic devices in children’s role-playing games:
In kindergarten role-playing games, children are given the opportunity to use devices familiar from everyday life based on their own ideas. Electronic devices (e.g. old telephones, keyboards, mice, remote controls, calculators, cables, etc.) in a safely prepared form are excellent props for enriching role-playing games.

3. Extending the life cycle of electronic devices, preventing them from becoming waste:

Don’t throw them away, fix them!
Objective: To introduce the prevention of waste generation. Children should see first-hand how devices are repaired instead of throwing them away.
Visiting a telephone shop.
• Servicing mobile phones, observing their repair with the help of a specialist.
• Getting to know the activities of an IT teacher and students.
• Computer service
• Visiting a home appliance repair shop near the kindergarten.