Our Green Month at Bridging Tech 🌍 🌱
Our work toward educational equity has and always will be kind to the planet.
To our wonderful community:
As we approach our one-year anniversary, we are feeling especially grateful for your consistent support. We could not be where we are now without grassroots donors and volunteers like yourselves encouraging us along this journey. Since we celebrated Earth Day this month, we wanted to thank you all for helping Bridging Tech center sustainability in our mission.
Within one year, Bridging Tech has saved 57,780 kg of CO2 from refurbishing donated laptops, or the equivalent amount of CO2 produced by 9 cars in a year. E-waste that makes its way into landfills leeches harmful substances, so it is of the utmost importance that we limit this accumulation and protect our shared environment. Thankfully, we offer a simple and easy way to donate technology at any point in the year to improve education for under-resourced youth. Hopefully, we can play a small part in encouraging sustainable habits.
We hope that you are all safe, healthy, and continuing to practice sustainability in your own lives!
Thank you for all of your support,
Margot Bellon
Co-Founder, The Bridging Tech Charitable Fund
Spotlight: Mother Earth
In recognition of this year’s Earth Day, we are highlighting the mother we all share: Earth.
The first Earth Day occurred on April 22, 1970, and was the beginning of the modern environmental movement. During this time, lead was in every gallon of gasoline, factories were allowed to pollute with impunity, and the concept of “climate change” was a foreign concept to most Americans.
Currently, Earth Day is an international event for environmental protection, with tremendous symbolism. For example, on Earth Day in 2016, the Paris Climate Agreement was signed, with 196 countries pledging to take action against climate change.
Sustainability has special importance to us due to our focus on sourcing used devices to get them back out into the hands of students affected by homelessness for school. As Cindy Loi, Technology Associate at Bridging Tech, writes:
“Millions of tonnes of e-waste are produced globally each year. Many devices end up in landfills and are not properly recycled. The Technology Team collects and sends these devices to our refurbisher to be then given to children in need. As a result, both Mother Earth and our students benefit.”
Our Featured Technology Donation Drives
Washington, D.C.
Lucas and his incredible team have been running tech drives in their city ever since February 2021. They also participated in our Earth Day Campaign and have collected many devices for Bridging Tech since the start of their first tech drive.
Redmond, Washington
Marshmallow Pandas are a group of six primary school girls making a huge impact in their community! These amazing volunteers have collaborated with a local nonprofit for children’s education to help them collect devices on our behalf.
Seattle, Washington
Brian is a wonderful tech drive host who has collected donations in his city. He shared Bridging Tech’s mission on his website as a way to market his event. Additionally, he even offered local pick-ups to make donating easier for our community!
Our Partner’s Impact
Our partnership with Coalition for the Homeless in New York City is focused on ensuring that all students affected by homelessness receive permanent laptops for learning. We have many exciting plans to scale our partnership in the near future, and we are so grateful for our partner’s amazing work advocating for our students and their families.
Recently, their team won a case to ensure Internet connectivity in over 200 shelters across New York City! We are so proud of their accomplishment and glad to have partners who are equally as passionate about bridging the digital divide.
What We’re Reading
While National Parks are a great way to appreciate our Earth, it is important to remember that the Indigenous were the original stewards of this land before it was stolen. To better understand the history of colonization and the U.S. National Park system, we recommend Return the National Parks to the Tribes by David Treuer, featured in The Atlantic. You can read the article here.
Special Shout-Out: eWomen Foundation
Thank you to our wonderful friends at eWomen Foundation and eWomenNetwork for supporting our cause by giving 100 laptops to our students. We are inspired by your generosity and dedication to social justice!
Get Involved
Do you want to join the cause?
We always need more help at Bridging Tech, so we are currently recruiting volunteers who can dedicate at least 10 hours weekly for the next year to join our team. If you or someone you know are interested in getting involved on a greater level, we should work together to magnify our impact!
You can become a volunteer or donate.
Thank you for showing support by giving your time. We will be sure to reach out to you when there are opportunities to volunteer by hosting technology donation drives or helping out our regional teams in a city near you.
If you can, donate devices!
With the help of our refurbishing partner, all personal information will be wiped, and the devices will then be properly refurbished. After cleaning out your closets for extra devices, if your company has cyclical hardware refreshes, please consider motivating your IT or Philanthropy Team to donate old laptops and tablets to Bridging Tech.
Finally, become a Digital Divide Ambassador.
Share this newsletter with ten of your friends, and tell us a bit about you and your community to become a Digital Divide Ambassador at Bridging Tech! Email us at newsletter@bridgingtech.org.