'Earthly Bros' collect and recycle used electronics

Written By Peter Allan

Alexandre Bourré holding a used computer monitor in his mother’s garage, while surrounded by used electronics collected to donate to the ERA. Photo by: Natalie Bourré

 

By Patricia Lane & Alexandre Bourré

Alexandre Bourré and his brother, Samuel, will help you declutter your home, reduce landfill waste and assist Canadians in need. The teenager from Richmond Hill, Ont., started Earthly Bros, working with the Electronic Recycling Association (ERA) to collect used electronics and make them useful to people who cannot afford new equipment. In 2024, the project came third in the country for the most equipment sent to the ERA. He won a 2025 I-SEA National Youth Climate Activism award. Alex’s 15-year-old brother recently joined the project.

Tell us about your project.

If you have unwanted laptops, tablets, smartphones, desktop computers, gaming equipment, servers or switches, we will arrange for them to be collected if you live in many major cities in Canada or the US. If you live elsewhere, we will send you a shipping label so you can send it for free to the ERA. We also make drop off easy at events, such as the Richmond Hill EcoFest, which we advertise on Instagram. By the end of 2025, we will have kept at least 500 devices out of landfills and redirected to people who need them, such as the young woman in Alberta who received a free smartphone to help her manage her complex medication needs.

We are starting to see repeat donors, which is really exciting because it means we are building a community and relationships. L’École élémentaire Le-Petit-Prince has helped us collect devices multiple times. Our local politicians have been repeat champions. People often donate multiple times, and we love hearing their stories and seeing their smiles. Sometimes, we will do a collection with friends who, together, completely fill my mom’s minivan which we use for local work.

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Peter Allan
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