Key stage 2+ Free Activity

Lesson Plan: How could you reuse some of your rubbish?

Ever walked down the street and got some chewing gum stuck to the bottom of your shoe? We throw away tonnes of chewing gum every single day and much of it ends up stuck to the street in little splodges.

Designer Anna Bullus wanted to find a solution to the problem of gum covered, sticky streets.... so she came up with a bin especially for old gum to be placed in. When thinking of a material to make the bin from she wanted to be environmentally friendly so she used old gum as a material.

Watch Anna tell you about the ‘Gumdrop’ bin. Then have a look at the things that you’re throwing out. What goes in your bin and what do you recycle? How could you reuse some of your rubbish?

Things to do

Illustrate your own design to capture litter, it can be as fancy or crazy as you like.

Share a picture of your finished illustration using #DesignFromHome and the Design Museum will repost the best creations!

To read

Old mobile phones often end up not being recycled or reused. Think about where any old phones might be in your house. In a drawer? In a cupboard? Many mobile phones are not designed to be recycled and many only have a limited lifespan. The designers behind the ‘Fairphone’ knew that this was a huge problem so they worked on making a phone that was friendly to the environment by using recycled materials.

Young Design Museum

Young Design Museum

See what other activities are available for young people as part of the museum's Digital Design Calendar.