Loop de Loop: Circular Solutions for a Waste-free World

Nature works on a cycle, where everything has value and nothing is wasted. But modern humans have created a different kind of system: it’s less like a circle and more like a line. We take, make, use and then toss things away. Explore how these systems differ and begin to imagine how we might shift toward a loopier world where nature is our guide.

• Using the worksheet provided share one thing that could change in your home/life to work toward creating a circular economy in your community/school
• Draw/describe an invention that might help close the loop so items/resources do not need to be thrown away after only one use.

The author writes that in nature “everything has value and nothing is wasted.” What does she mean?

How do plants and animals continue to feed the cycle of nature when they die?

What are some of the planet’s resources? What does the author mean when she writes that resources are “limited”?

Has anyone in your community been affected by forest fires or floods or other climate-change–fuelled natural disaster? How?

What does the author mean when she writes that people in the Loop de Loop world are going “way beyond  recycling”? Why is recycling not the only answer for our waste problem?

Do you think it’s possible to get rid of trash altogether? What did you learn in reading the book about ways to move toward this goal?

Do you have too much stuff? What kind of stuff do you have too much of? Is there anything you can do about it?  What does the author mean when she writes “what if more isn’t always better”?

Do you know how to repair anything? How did you learn? Can you share your skill with your friends or classmates?

When the author writes that we need to “design waste out of the system” what does she mean? Is it possible to stop waste through design? How? Give 3-5 examples.

What kind of materials are strong enough to be used again and again?

Have you ever swapped or traded something like a tool or a bicycle? Are there other less obvious items that you or your family could share with others in your community?

The author writes about finding beauty in the perfectly imperfect. Can you think of an example of something that is beautiful even though—maybe even because!—it’s not perfect?

The Honourable Harvest is a concept in many Indigenous cultures that suggests never taking more than one needs and honouring the generosity of the plant or animal being harvested. It also means giving back to the land that  sustains us. How do you think this relates to the circular economy? (Watch this video for more) Consider how the principles of the Honourable Harvest could affect your behaviour in stores, restaurants, at school or parties? What would be different if we embraced these principles?

What does the author mean when she writes WE ARE NATURE?

What example of the Loop de Loop world surprised you most? What could you do in your school or family to be more loopy?

The author suggests that individuals aren’t the only ones responsible for participating in the circular economy. How can your government be involved? Could you write to your local representative and ask them how they are  becoming part of the circular economy?

Preparation: Gather items from home/school that can be reused ie. old t-shirts, broken toys, plastic bottles. You will also use these items for the Sculpture Gallery activity.

Play: Have students line up with one end being the “production/start” and the other the “landfill.” Hand “resources” (any items found around home/school—the more the better) one at a time along the production line. After a few items, speed up. When all the items have been passed along, pause and reflect on the pile of resources in the landfill.

• Is there another solution?
• How does nature work differently?
• How might traditional Indigenous practices approach resources differently?
• What else can we do with our resources?
• Guide students’ thinking — instead of a line, what if you made a circle?

Have students form a circle. Hand resources along the production circle one at a time. Speed up. Pause and reflect about what it means that there is no landfill with a circle.

• How is this different from the line?
• Which is better for the environment and why?

Preparation: Gather items from home/school that can be reused ie. old t-shirts, broken toys, plastic bottles. You will also use these items for the Round and Round game.

Using the items brought in, have students create two and three dimensional sculptures. Have students create a write-up describing their art. Invite other classes into your art gallery.

We’ve all been taught how important it is to recycle. And while it remains a key environmental solution, recycling  can be expensive and not as effective at reducing waste as we might hope. Plus, it takes a lot of energy to break  down materials like plastic or glass and remake them into new objects. In the circular economy, we need to think  first about reuse, repair & creating materials that last.

Materials:

• “Found items” (ie. water bottle, t-shirts, used birthday cards etc.).
• Venn diagram handout or hula hoops
• Chart paper, white board, smart board, or projector

Activity:
PART 1: Brainstorm
As a class, students will create definitions for the terms “recycling,” “reusing” and “circular economy.”

• What does the author mean when she writes that people in the Loop de Loop world are going “way beyond recycling”?
• Why is recycling not the only answer for our waste problem?

Using found items provided by the teacher, students will write each item in the appropriate part of the Venn diagram (could use hula hoops and place items inside).

Students brainstorm and generate other items to sort (in the schoolyard, gym, etc.).

Students share their Venn diagrams with a classmate and compare how they sorted items

PART 2: Discuss

• Where did most items end up?
• Why did you choose to place the item where you did?
• What observations can we make about how we use items we don’t want anymore?

Share examples of how a listed item can be reused.

Share one thing you can change in your home/life that could work toward creating a circular economy in your community/school.

One of the Seven Sacred Teachings (also known as the Seven Grandfather Teachings in some Indigenous  cultures) focuses on Respect. How could we use resources in a more respectful way? Learn more about the Seven Grandfather Teachings here.

PART 3: Reflection

Use the Exit Card reflection

Buying and accumulating stuff is such a big part of our culture and lives we rarely question it. But in creating a Loop de Loop world we need to start by asking ourselves if we have too much & how we might manage with less.

Materials Required

• Images of landfills and garbage dumps
• Chart paper
• Markers
• GOOS (good on one side) paper

PART 1: Discuss

• What is consumption?
• Have you ever seen a landfill or a garbage dump?
• Where does the trash you create in your daily life go?
• Do you think it’s possible to get rid of trash altogether?
• What did you learn in reading the book about ways to change our consumption patterns?
• What might an Indigenous Guardian/Land Keeper think about over-consumption?

PART 2: Bell ringer
Using a carousel/bell ringer model, place chart paper with the images of landfills and dumps around the class. Place markers nearby. Ask the students to record their thoughts and feelings when looking at each image and answer the questions.

• What can be done differently?
• How does this image make you feel?
• How can we solve this problem?

Students will have just a few minutes at each image to share their reactions to the images and their classmates’ ideas.

At the last image, ask the students there to share their reactions with the whole class.

PART 3: Media campaign
Students will pick an image/problem that they felt most passionate about and will create a simple media campaign to bring awareness of the issue to their peers.

Students are encouraged to think about ways of solving the problem.

Using GOOS paper, students draw their poster & create a brief written summary of their campaign.

In a short oral presentation, students share their poster with the class.

Gather some everyday objects (spoon, hat, pencil, book, etc.).

Have the students form a circle to play “This is not a spoon”.

Take an everyday object (spoon, pencil, hat) and pass it around the circle. When the student gets the object they  say, “This is not a ______ it’s a _______” giving the object a different name and purpose. For instance, “This is not  a spoon, it’s a toothbrush.” Ask students to mime how the object will be used in this new way.

Using an item found in the trash, lost and found or the school yard, have the students create a comic strip with the  trash as the main character. Challenge students to imagine different ways in their comic that the item/character  might be reused, upcycled, repaired or transformed instead of being tossed in the trash.

What can you rescue from the trash at home or at school?

Throughout history, Indigenous people have lived on the land and valued it deeply. How might Indigenous cultures view the linear system that’s evolved in our time with all its waste of the Earth’s resources?

Do you have any repair skills that you can share?

What would you learn to do if you could learn repair skills?

Every year, over two billion T-shirts are bought and sold around the world. But how are they made and what  happens when we’re done with them? What is the environmental impact of all these T-shirts? What could we do differently?

This activity can be paired with Life Cycle of a T-Shirt and Upcycle your T-shirt.

Have students turn to a partner and read the label on the back of each other’s shirts- where was the shirt made?

On a large map, mark each country, including Canada or wherever you live.

What will happen to the T-shirt when it’s stained or torn or outgrown?

How might it be upcycled?

Every year, over two billion T-shirts are bought and sold around the world. But how are they made and what  happens when we’re done with them? What is the environmental impact of all these T-shirts? What could we do differently? This activity can be paired with T-Shirt Map and Upcycle a T-Shirt.

Watch the video below about the life cycle of a T-shirt.

Discuss what surprised you and what you already knew about how clothes are made.

Divide students into groups. Each group will get an envelope with scrambled pictures showing how cotton becomes  a t-shirt. Students glue the pictures down in order and share their findings with another group to compare their thinking.

Every year, over two billion T-shirts are bought and sold around the world. But how are they made and what  happens when we’re done with them? What is the environmental impact of all these T-shirts? What could we do differently? This activity can be paired with T-Shirt Map and Life Cycle of a T-Shirt. 

Have students design an upcycled shirt using the template.

Have students bring in an old T-shirt for upcycling. Redesign the clothing by adding patches, cutting and braiding the material, or drawing on the T-shirts with laundry markers for a brand new look.

Invite a member of the school community/parent/Indigenous leader who has skills like carpentry, electrical, sewing,  or other types of repair to visit and teach a skill. Ask students to bring items in to do a simple repair, and teach each  other or learn online how to do it yourselves.

Plan a day for students to bring in gently used toys they’re no longer using. Allow students
to choose something new to bring home.

Use this game as a tangible way to explore how your class or community can work together to loosen sticky knots  and tricky tangles in the circular economy.

Stand in a circle with your class. Have everyone walk toward the centre and grasp one hand of the person across  from you. Now, take someone else’s other hand. The teacher will separate two hands randomly in the group. Have  the class work together to unwind this tangled group without letting go of anyone’s hands.

At the end of each term at one Toronto school, the student-led eco club and teacher supporters collect all the unclaimed items in the lost and found and offer them up for free at The Circle Store. Their recommendations:  choose a day when there will be lots of people around and give families lots of warning! You might be surprised by how much fun it is for everyone!

Raid the garbage for useful items and have students create a Rube Goldberg machine from the rescued pieces.

Take a forest walk in the schoolyard or nearby greenspace. Collect fallen materials to make small temporary art  pieces—a collaboration with nature. Leave the art where it is and take pictures, or share by having children walk  around the schoolyard and observe each other’s creations. Take inspiration from artist Day Schildkret.