Have you ever heard the word wishcycling?
It’s when we wish something could be recycled, so we put it in the recycling bin – but in reality, it can’t be recycled there. This can cause problems for recycling centres and even lead to more waste.
In our Three Voices in Green Erasmus+ project, students are learning to avoid wishcycling by doing material analysis. They choose an everyday product and carry out a product autopsy – taking a close look at what materials it’s made of, where they come from, how they can be reused, and what happens at the end of the product’s life.
The task also challenges them to think about better ways to design products, such as:
- Modular Design – making products in parts so they can be repaired or upgraded instead of thrown away.
- Design for Disassembly – making it easy to take a product apart for recycling and repair.
- Cradle to Cradle – designing products so that every part can be reused or returned safely to nature, creating no waste at all.
By looking at these ideas, our students are not only exploring how products are made but also how they could be made better, smarter, and more sustainably.