As a way to involve the younger generation and the promising future of our city with our project and paths that can be taken to resolve alarming problems, we organized a contest that would be captivating to all. In this contest, students from different high schools would have to use electronic waste as the main source of material for the creation of innovative sculptures that reflected today’s philosophy of consumerism and the toll it is taking upon the environment and our health. Five high schools of the metropolitan area of Monterrey were invited to participate and be a part of this event. A few weeks prior the main event we visited classrooms in each high school, where we gave talks about synthetic biology, iGEM, the distressing effects pollution is having on us, and what we’re working on proper disposal of electronic waste. The available materials were: computers, cell phones, CD’s, consoles, broken electrical systems and so on. Judges evaluated the art pieces by taking into account the following points:

• Quality
• Use of materials
• Justification

The students that participated in the event were asked by their teachers to research on e-waste and its toxic components; they also made an essay on toxicity and the inorganic chemicals found in this kind of residues, and how they can affect the human health. The teachers decided to modify a section of the course because they knew it was an important topic for the alumni to know, so they implemented this essay and topic. A total of 23 teams registered to the event, each team varying from 1 to 3 team members.

During the competition, we explained our project to the students and teachers of the different high schools. Their reaction was of excitement and confusion at the same time, because they didn’t know that genetic engineering on bacteria could treat e-waste. Also, they were shocked to see the amount of electronic waste that they had at home and were no longer using.

We gave awards to the three teams with the best artworks, among which there was a model of Monterrey, our city, built in e-waste; a sculpture of a man’s head made of CD scraps and other materials, and a robot that symbolises hope and the evolution of men, made with motherboards.

We were amazed at the level of deepness and complexity of the explanations the students gave us. We could really see that they truly thought about the issue and considered all its causes, implications and dangers. We were happy to see how this activity motivated the teens to know more about the e-waste pollution issue and to actually do something about it. We left with the promise to come back after the Giant Jamboree, and give the participating high schools a talk about our experience with iGEM.