The CEL Pack: An educational tool for a sustainable future
Nabria, Jaiden, and Keyanna at University City Science Center
In October 2021, the Biodesign Challenge and the Google Hardware Design Studio partnered to create a month-long design sprint to explore better ways to produce materials and systems that are truly sustainable. Aula Future and students were chosen out of many applicants to develop a project for the student-track competition.
Concept
One of the design prompts was around truly sustainable materials, imagining a future without e-waste.
E-waste is trash made out of electronics like phones, computers, and other machines. The way that these electronics are made and thrown away is damaging our earth and health because they usually contain plastics and toxic heavy metals that seep into our land, water, and air supply. Jaiden Morris, Keyanna Nurse, and Nabria Jackson from Paul Robeson Highschool envision a future without e-waste and its environmental impacts.
“E-waste is only 2% of the trash in landfills, but still equals 70% of all the toxic waste in the US.”
When we first met as a team at the start of the Sprint, the students were not very familiar with e-waste and hypothesized that their classmates weren’t either. We realized early on that a lack of education around e-waste and sustainable electronic production could become a big problem for humanity. Young people are the ones who will have to deal with the consequences of the damaging product lifecycle of electronics and will have to think critically about innovative solutions.
We circulated a student survey that confirmed the fact that students were unfamiliar with the problem of e-waste and its contribution to the Earth’s decay, although they were passionate about the environment. Once students were informed, however, 75% said that they would likely be interested in learning more about it at school.
This fact helped the team identify that awareness and education are foundational in tackling any problem, and they wondered if the world would be better off if students had the opportunity to explore alternative materials for electronics in the classroom.
The CEL Pack, render by Marco Locatelli
Design
After brainstorming and discussion, the students decided that the mission of their project would be to provide the educational tools that help our future scientists and designers research biomaterials for electronics. They conceptualized an educational tool kit called the “Certified Earth Lovers Pack”, or “CEL Pack” to see their mission through.
The Pack provides students with different supplies and educational activities having to do with biomaterials. The students imagine this hands-on tool kit to be integrated into high schools like Robeson in the form of an elective class that focuses on sustainability. Teachers would facilitate lessons around sustainable electronics throughout the school year.
The first CEL Pack contains an activity around bioplastics. Using the kit, the student can learn about and create bioplastic structures that could one day replace the unsustainable plastics currently used in electronics.
In designing this first activity, the students went to the lab at the University City Science Center to see if this was a feasible idea for the Pack. Using chitosan, a common material found in crabs, shrimps, and some fungi and algae, they actually developed biodegradable plastics using a mold of various electronic parts.
The idea is for students to have a long-term relationship with science, to stimulate curiosity, and to empower young people to do their own research and experiments even after school.
What’s next?
The students spoke to their school principal, Richard Gordon, to validate the feasibility of this new class. He expressed excitement about the idea and confirmed that an elective like this is not only important but implementable too.
After speaking with the school faculty, the students identified their next step to include partnering with tech companies like Google to produce the Packs and to develop relevant activities. Future activities could include common resources like cellulose found in plants instead of chitosan. Scientists have found that cellulose is very useful in the field of bioelectronics (3).
The CEL Pack and its activities would be an opportunity for partnering technology companies like Google to research new biomaterials that could eventually be used in their own products. The packs can help companies to invest in sustainability and give educational opportunities for students at the same time.
Creating bioplastics at the lab using molds from electronics
Final thoughts
The students imagine this elective class to be a fun and educational experience for themselves, their classmates, and their teachers at Robeson. However, their hope is for the CEL Pack to expand to other schools as well. They imagine the program to turn into something permanent that covers the complex topic of sustainability, and they want to create something for the educational system that helps young people to learn about keeping their planet healthy.
How can we expect to find solutions to big problems like this when students aren't given the opportunity to learn or participate in the process? Jaiden, Keyanna, and Nabria want to get the message across that collaboration between tech companies and students is imperative if we want to create a future without toxic e-waste for us and the generations to come.
Watch the project video!
Project Reference List
Slade, Giles. "iWaste." Mother Jones, 2007. Web
S. Pradhan, A.K. Brooks, V.K. Yadavalli, Nature-derived materials for the fabrication of functional biodevices, Materials Today Bio, Volume 7, 2020
ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces, Flexible and Sensitivity-Adjustable Pressure Sensors, 13, 7, 8754–8763, 2021
