Starting The Rubbish Science Journey

Rubbish Science is about creating things that serve a purpose in a community from rubbish that is locally sourced.

In creating, these people learn about scientific thinking and environmental issues The idea for Rubbish Science was born a long time ago but only really crystallised from doing voluntary work in a rural school in a Developing Country. I knew they wouldn’t have much science equipment, but to find it extended only to a pair of broken scissors and a piece of string was a bit shocking. Looking around I found a large pile of rubbish – discarded bottles, bags and packets. I made a working pinhole camera out of and old juice carton and a plastic bag and started wondering what else we could do. Researching I found a whole host of innovative people reusing and repurposing plastic bottles, bags and other refuse items into something useful. Plastic bottle hydroponics systems, mosquito traps, plastic bag ropes, solar stills and other items that could improve people’s lives. What was noticeable was that all these designs were effectively prototypes and there were many potential tweaks and redesign opportunities to create the ‘best’ product. This opens opportunities to use the scientific method to determine which combination of variables are the optimum solution – a much richer task than the usual school science dealing with a single variable. This is a brand new website so please give us some feedback  The application for Non-Profit CIC status is in and we are just waiting for the response. We are currently looking for collaborative partners to develop this project further as well as sponsors. Please join us and collaborate on this journey