The competition has been challenging design pupils in Grade 10 to 12 since 2006 to identify real needs and to create solutions using recycled materials. Coppings’s colourful, fun Play Bud-dy invention is an inexpensive, multifunctional play station and storage unit in one for use by children aged one to four years old. It can also be used by children with learning disabilities such as autism. It’s based on an interactive learning experience which can be utilised by pupils, educators and their caregivers in a way that is useful to previously disadvantaged communities.
The 2014 competition theme titled Design can change the world tasked pupils with identifying global challenges and to design a product or campaign to address issues of life skills using recycled materials. The programme reaches more than 16 000 pupils in some 300 schools in the Western Cape, Gauteng and Kwazulu-Natal. The main objectives of the competition are to provide a platform for young, aspiring designers to showcase their work, to promote the relevance of design in everyday life and to promote the importance of sustainable design.
Group winners were the team of Marcel Manikum, Kerwin Govender and Nivern Govender from Pinetown Boys High School with their Eco Rico Educational Pop-Up Book. The book is designed to teach children aged six to eight about the effects of pollution on the world around them, and to encourage them to reuse and recycle everyday household waste items in fun craft projects and other activities. The large format makes the book ideal for group reading, making it suitable even for schools where families cannot afford to buy individual copies.
“We are committed to inspiring future designers through Our Making the Difference Through Design programme, now in its tenth year,” said Charmaine Huet, Woolworths group marketing director. “Our annual competition, which is linked to the curriculum for design in Grade 10 to 12, provides pupils with a platform to solve real problems around them through design. They never fail to impress us.”
Tell Sandton Chronicle what new invention you have come up with using recycled materials, in the comments section below.
