The United Nations Sustainability Development Goals have been in force for member countries since 2015 and calls for climate change action have been gotten louder. The 5 R's of waste management have long been a catch cry of the environmental movement and many companies have shifted to make improvements in their practices. However, what are simple measures that can be done in school and at home? The application of the 5 R's provide an easy framework to allow students to explore UN Goal 12 "Sustainable Consumption". The workshop will follow the development of a recycling unit for grade 8 students that has been used over the past 10 years. While the fun aspect of the unit is to create usable products from waste material, hopefully the students grasp the underlying message of "whose responsibility is it". The scope for expansion of the concept and application of the use of the 5 R's is huge. Let's explore this. The unit has been used in grade 8 and have clear applications in the DP DT curriculum in Topic 2 Resources and Topic 8 Sustainability.
