Show your Passion for Recycling E-waste: Green Living Show Announces GTA E-Waste Collection Drive and School Challenge

(3BL Media) Toronto - March 8, 2012 - Today, the Green Living Show announced an e-waste collection challenge for GTA residents, through an innovative school challenge, and several community collection drives across the GTA. As a 5th year partner of the Green Living Show, Samsung
Electronics Canada, along with their retail partner Sears Canada, are enabling more people to get involved and do their part to properly recycle unwanted electronic waste by making a variety of convenient locations act as depots for consumers. Participants in this important program have an added incentive in that they will receive a free tickets (a $15 value) to the upcoming Green Living Show in Toronto (April 13-15, Direct Energy Centre). The winner of the Passion for E-recycling School Challenge receives a $10,000 technology grant, donated by Samsung Electronics Canada.

Electronic waste (e-waste) is defined as all types of unwanted electronics and electronic equipment and can present special challenges when it comes to end-of-life disposal. E-waste contains a unique combination of hazardous materials as well as valuable materials which can be repurposed. This unusual combination requires special processing methods that both minimize potential harm to humans and the environment from hazardous materials, and maximize recovery of valuable resources.

“We believe it’s important to offer Canadians easy solutions to protect the environment, and we are thrilled that this year we are able to expand our e-waste recycling initiatives, with the support of likeminded organizations like Samsung,” said Laurie Simmonds, President, Green Living Enterprises, owner of the Green Living Show. “Whether through the e-waste recycling collections at Sears locations, or the Passion for E-recycling School Challenge, it’s more convenient than ever to get involved and a great way to do your part.”

“At Samsung, we’re passionate about our sustainability initiatives, and we’re proud of our long partnership with the Green Living Show,” Andrew Barrett, Vice President of Marketing for Samsung Electronics Canada. “E-waste recycling is an important part of Samsung’s sustainability efforts and we are thrilled to support Green Living Show’s school challenge program to broaden and complement existing recycling education to include e-waste.”

All e-waste from the Passion for E-recycling school challenge and the community collection drives will be collected and recycled by Global Electric Electronic Processing (GEEP). GEEP is an industry leader in Canada for electronic recycling, specializing in asset management, investment recovery and responsible e-waste recycling. GEEP runs state-of-the-art e-waste recycling facilities in Barrie, Ontario and Edmonton, Alberta.

Passion for E-waste Community Collection
Samsung is passionate about sustainability, and is committed to making it as easy as possible for consumers to live a greener life through the responsible recycling of old or unwanted electronics. Expanding the e-waste drive this year to make it even more convenient to participate, Samsung encourages visitors to bring e-waste in for recycling collection at participating Sears locations. For every piece of e-waste brought in for recycling, participants will receive a free ticket to the upcoming Green Living Show in Toronto, valued at $15 each. The following Sears locations will host e-waste collection drives:

• March 10-11: Yorkdale Shopping Centre (Toronto)
• March 17-18: Markville Shopping Centre (Markham)
• March 24-25: Pickering Town Centre (Pickering)
• March 31-April 1: Burlington Home Store (Burlington)
• April 7-8: Erin Mills Town Centre (Mississauga)

For the past two years, Samsung and the Green Living Show have run a successful e-waste collection drive onsite at the show, collecting over 100,000 pounds of electronic waste. As in past years, visitors to the Green Living Show can bring in their e-waste for recycling collection onsite,
courtesy of Samsung. For every piece of e-waste, participants will receive a free ticket into the Green Living Show.

For a complete list of e-waste items that will be accepted at the collection sites, please visit www.ontarioelectronicstewardship.ca/program/accepted-electronics

Passion for E-recycling School Challenge

Technology is a part of our lives, starting from a very young age. Green Living Show has created a unique way to teach elementary school students about e-waste and how to recycle it. Through the Passion for E-recycling School Challenge, running March 6 – May 15, elementary schools
within select Ontario school boards can register to host e-waste drop-off depots at their school. The school that collects the most e-waste by weight will win a generous $10,000 technology grant for their school, donated by Samsung Electronics Canada. All participating schools who register before April 10 will receive free tickets to attend the Green Living Show (April 13-15).

What’s more, classrooms can sign up to participate in an additional e-waste poster challenge. Students are to demonstrate their passion and excitement for recycling electronic waste, and work with following theme “Passion for E-recycling. Passion for the Earth.” Three winning classrooms will receive their choice of a Samsung Galaxy Tab or Series 9 laptop, donated by Samsung.

As a way to further educate students about electronic waste and incite passion about recycling, Green Living Show has created a learning module for educators. Fun and educational activities designed to teach grades 3-5 level students about e-waste can be found online at www.passionforerecycling.ca. These include a take-home checklist to identify e-waste material; a paper cut-out activity showing the different recyclable parts of old computer and cell phone; an ewaste/recycling trivia and wordsearch game and more.

Visit www.passionforerecycling.ca to register for the challenge, and for full contest details, rules and regulations and to register your school for participation.
 

About Samsung Electronics Canada Inc.
Samsung Electronics Canada enables Canadians to "Pursue their Passions" by offering a broad range of award-winning digital consumer electronics, IT, telecommunications and home appliance products for consumers and businesses. The Canadian arm upholds Samsung's global mission to provide users premium experiences that are unparalleled due to Samsung's innovative technology and stylish design. As a result, Samsung has become a true leader in the electronics industry both in terms of business leadership and brand strength. In 2011, Samsung was ranked #17 in BusinessWeek / Interbrand "100 Best Global Brands", and was named as one of Fast Company's "50 Most Innovative Companies of 2011."

Follow Samsung Canada @ facebook.com/SamsungCanada or on twitter @SamsungCanada

For more information, please visit www.samsung.com

About Sears Canada Inc.
Sears Canada has made a firm commitment to environmental sustainability. Since 2007, Sears has reduced the carbon footprint of its retail operations by 20%, with the goal of a 50% reduction by 2020. As ENERGY STAR Retailer of the Year for 4 consecutive years, Sears Canada is proud to offer a wide variety of energy efficient products and services to help its customers save money and Live Green.

For more information on Sears sustainability initiatives, visit www.searscsr.ca

About GEEP
GEEP is a leader in the Electronic Recycling Industry that specializes in Asset Management, Investment Recovery and responsible e-waste recycling. GEEP’s proprietary recycling equipment destroys e-waste and separates commodities (e.g. copper, palladium, gold, etc.) from plastics and steel. Recycling processes include all components of electric and electronic waste and adhere to all applicable governmental and environmental regulations. GEEP is certified to ISO 9001, 14001, R2 and various other standards and is an approved processor for Canada’s Provincial recycling programs.

About Green Living Enterprises / Green Living Show
Green Living Enterprises is a pioneer and leader in developing social and environmental marketing programs that keep consumers and clients at the forefront of the green agenda. Green Living Enterprises is a full-service, one-stop solution for green marketing, product and program development, custom publishing, and event management. Green Living Enterprises, an authentically green company, also includes Greenlivingonline.com and The Green Living Show, Canada’s largest green consumer show, dedicated to easy and workable solutions for leading a sustainable lifestyle. For more information, visit greenlivingshow.ca

For more information, or to request interviews, please contact:

Samsung Electronics Canada:
Nicole Grant / nicole.grant@northstrategic.com / (416) 419-6577

Sears:
Melissa Jacobs / melissa.jacobs@sears.ca / 416-941-2041

Green Living Show:
Annette Borger / aborger@green-living.ca / 416 988 7086