How might your project help ensure the sustainable management, use, reuse or recycling of Earth’s finite or renewable natural resource? Your project could explore reducing waste, reusing resources, recycling materials, or finding new, better ways to manage these important parts of our planet.

Check out this list of questions to get you thinking about your project, inspire some research, and help you decide what question or problem you might want to investigate.

Brainstorming project ideas:

Sustainable Management

• What natural resources do you see being wasted, overused, or poorly managed?
• What new technology, tool, or system might help to monitor and manage resources more carefully?
• What role does replanting, conservation, or responsible harvesting play in sustainability?

Reuse and Recycling

• How could everyday items (e.g., plastics, metals, or textiles) be reused or recycled more effectively?
• Which recycling methods are most efficient or environmentally friendly?
• How might you create something new and useful from recycled or waste materials?
• How can biological agents (e.g. bacteria, fungi, molluscs) help to recycle, break down or clean certain materials?
• If you could stop one item from going to landfill, what would it be? And how might you be able to stop it?

Renewable Resources

• How can we use resources like forests, soils, or water more sustainably?
• How does overusing renewable resources (like overfishing or overharvesting) affect ecosystems?
• What simple methods can improve water conservation in homes, schools, or gardens?

Finite Resources

• How could you find and test a sustainable alternative to a non-renewable resource?
• What is the difference between recycled metals or materials and newly mined ones? Can they be used in the same way?
• What are the environmental costs of extracting and using a specific finite resource?
• What do long-term plans for mines and drilling sites look like? How will they be managed once the resource runs out?

Remember

Start by picking a topic or idea that sparks your curiosity. Then think about whether you could discover (test an idea through an experiment, research or survey) or innovate (design a new solution) around that problem. Learn more about the difference between Discovery and Innovation projects here.