Learning to Reuse: a citizen science project with school children in Fife, Scotland

Learning to Reuse is a project funded by the Impact and Innovation Fund of the University of St Andrews, Scotland. It was awarded to and led by Dr Matteo Saltalippi. The aim of the project was to help students explore reuse: finding new ways to use objects instead of throwing them away. Inspired by the knowledge of waste pickers and grounded in citizen science, the project encouraged students to observe, test, and share the best reuse ideas. From January to March 2025, the project brought together primary school students in Fife, three members of the Department of Social Anthropology (Saltalippi, O'Hare and Milillo) and staff from Transition (University of St Andrews) to explore how young people can take the lead in reducing waste through reuse practices.

The project aimed to promote awareness of reuse as a sustainable practice, empower young pupils through citizen science, produce a practical student-created booklet to inspire change in local schools, and build bridges between academic research and everyday environmental action.

During two workshops, pupils learned about waste, the circular economy, anthropological methods, and how to collect data on their reuse practices. Students then went home with a data collection form to track reuse in their everyday lives. Over two weeks, they recorded their own reuse activities using a form included in the downloadable booklet, observing habits at home and in their communities. During the second workshop, they discussed their findings and decided which reuse strategies worked best. Based on students' input and findings, a booklet of practical reuse tips was created and distributed as both a hard copy and an online version to all primary schools across Fife. The booklet is available to download at the Learning to Reuse project website.