Edinburgh Remakery wants to encourage young people within local Edinburgh schools to engage in courageous conversations around environmental sustainability, particularly related to e-waste. Our project will give them the opportunity to get involved in a sustainable project which encourages achievable actions they can take to support the climate and help their local communities reduce their carbon emissions.

Our Tech Donation Box for Schools programme will see the manufacture of five donation boxes which will be placed within primary and secondary schools across Edinburgh. They provide an easy way for people to pass on their old devices, such as laptops and phones, for them to be repaired and reused, or responsibly recycled. These will allow young people to engage with the circular economy and learn simple methods to reduce their waste. This project also allows students to support their local communities, as a portion of all the devices that are donated through our Tech Donation Boxes, go on to support our Tech Gifting Project and are given for free to people in need across Edinburgh.

All donated devices are securely wiped of data and categorised for repair, refurbishment and reuse. If they cannot be repaired or refurbished, they are broken down into component parts which are then used to repair other devices or are responsibly recycled so that as little as possible goes to waste.

Our project will engage with:

• 15 schools across Edinburgh
• Young people within schools and their friends & families
• Individuals and families facing digital poverty through our Tech Gifting Programme

To promote our project, we will engage with school heads, the leadership and sustainability teams  A ‘Programme Pack’ will be distributed to each school, outlining the programme and its benefits in taking part. We will develop core messages around e-waste that the school can use in its communications, and details of how the school can help promote its participation and impact.

Our CEO will visit each of the participating schools to deliver a presentation about e-waste, and its impact on the environment, and explain how the Tech Donation Boxes provide an achievable and accessible way for people to take action, whilst promoting environmental sustainability and supporting our people and our planet.

Each participating school will receive a report at the end of the term which details the number of devices they have helped to save, and their carbon savings. Schools will also be eligible to enter our Environmental Champion Awards and have the opportunity to be awarded a prize for their participation in the project.

Our aim is to not only spark important conversations about climate change but to also provide ways for young people to take positive action to help Edinburgh become a greener city and help it meet its net zero targets.