MILWAUKEE (SPECTRUM NEWS) -- Downtown Milwaukee's Saint Kate Hotel is hosting a one-of-a-kind exhibit, showing a different perspective on reducing our carbon footprint. 

The exhibit explores the destiny of electronics and phones once they are discarded. 

"I wanted to know what would happen to them after I threw them out, what world are we leaving behind?", questioned Nathaniel Stern, UW Milwaukee professor, artist, and writer. 

Upon asking himself that question, Stern began to work with scientists to artificially age electronics and find out if they would actually ever decompose. 

"None of them broke down the way that we expected, the way that we hoped for," said Stern.

The observations and data collected when experimenting led Stern to new ideas for the outdated devices.

Creating ink and repurposing parts of the electronics.

"The ink itself is made out of crushed phones extended with different kinds of printmaking oils. The utilities that I called circuities tools where you see my hacksaw my ax and a trowel that is made out of old Dell circuit boards," Stern continued.

He's hoping to postpone some of the long-term damage this type of waste can create.

"A lot of the rare earth minerals in our phones are toxic and are toxic to the soil and they can get into our water supply," added Stern. 

The exhibit is gaining attention, raising awareness and sparking curiosity in those who visit it. 

"I feel like it just brings a lot of awareness for kind of how our society is going about life and the overlap with nature, you know what's gonna happen with all these products down the road when we're putting them in landfills and stuff like that", said exhibit visitor Justin Dischler. 

Allowing people to get up close and personal with Stern's experiment, where . they might even encounter something they previously owned. Giving people a perspective of just how long they can hold up.

"Maybe we should take a second look at how we're going about technology and how we're gonna be sustainable for the future", finished Dischler. 

Making people consider postponing that new mobile upgrade or electronic purchase just a little longer. 

Nathaniel Stern and scientists who collaborated in the exhibit . will be hosting a free panel discussion on the topic Saturday, February 15th at the St. Kate Hotel. 

The World After Us exhibit is open to the public until March 29th from 6 am to 1 am.