Two students land a $5000 prize for their call to action over electronic waste

Hundreds of school students around Australia recently took up the challenge through the MobileMuster Student Competition to inspire the community to recycle old mobile phones. Students were called upon to create an artwork, whether it be a photograph, drawing or short film, that would educate consumers on the lifecycle of mobile phones, the impact of electronic waste and the need for recycling.

MobileMuster is the Australian mobile phone industry’s recycling program. They are committed to raising awareness of mobile phone recycling and encouraging more Australians to help repair, reuse or recycle their old mobile phones and accessories.

One of the core objectives of this program is educating the next generation of consumers, so in 2019 MobileMuster launched a national competition for school students of all ages.

One of the two overall winners was Perth Year 5 student, Ava Laurance. Ava’s short film, Don’t Be Selfie-ish (watch it here) is a cheerful one-minute reminder of how we so easily discard our old phones, leaving them in a drawer when their parts can be used for other products.

“I like to have a good selfie and I thought that Don’t Be Selfie-ish was just a funny pun,” Ava said.

“I know that people keep old phones in drawers, including my dad, so I thought I could use that.”

Ava enjoys making films with her friends at school, so the filming came easily.

“There were some angles where my dad helped a lot and there were a lot of stops and starts,” she said.

Creating the winning film made Ava think more about recycling.

“The materials inside a mobile phone can be used for different products that are useful and so (recycling) is very important to do.”

The winner for the secondary school section was Thomas Klebanowski from Melbourne for his short film, We Need to Talk.

There were finalists in each category from around Australia:

PRIMARY

Photography: Claire Crane, Victoria

Drawing: Genevieve Niralya Sebastian, Queensland

Short film: Isla Kanaan, Victoria

SECONDARY

Photography: Karl Lang, South Australia

Drawing: Evelyn Small, Western Australia

Short film: Sienna Barry, Queensland

So, what will Ava do with the $5000 prize money?

“We’re thinking of buying Apple watches for the family,” she said.

You can view the winning entries by visiting the MobileMuster website here.

And if you have an old mobile phone or two in your drawer, visit the website for information on how you can recycle, reuse and repair.