Old plastic bottles can be made into tiny houses, but it’s better to dispense with single-use plastic altogether.
A schoolgirl from the UAE encouraged 314 pupils from 7th grade to do just that. Her method? Individual barcodes for those with returnable bottles.
These were scanned at the start of the school day, creating data sets about pupils’ habits.
Leaderboards and badges incentivised students to bring returnable bottles for 10, 20 or 30 consecutive days.
By the project’s end, the number of pupils bringing reusable bottles had risen to 76% from 28%, with 96% encouraging family members to follow their lead.
An app could extend the initiative to other classes and year groups.
Play also helps children learn about new technologies.
