Collaborative, circular, social and solidarity economy

Explain the difference between a linear economy (make → use → dispose) and a circular economy using the example of a mobile phone: what happens to it in each model when you stop using it?

The diagram shows the circular economy cycle applied to clothes in the school locker, but one of the stages is covered with a question mark.

1. a) State which stage is missing between 'use' and 'reuse' (extending the garment's life by repairing it) and explain why it is the preferred option before recycling.
2. b) Go through the cycle with a school hoodie: what happens to it at each stage if the system works well?

Order the 'three Rs' by their environmental priority — reduce, reuse, recycle — and explain with the example of a water bottle why recycling is the last option and not the first. What does 'the best bottle is the one that is never made' mean?

Classify these school actions as reduce, reuse or recycle: (a) the used textbook bank; (b) printing double-sided and only what is necessary; (c) separating paper into the blue bin; (d) removing single-use cups from the coffee machine; (e) fixing broken chairs in the workshop instead of throwing them away.

The ecological footprint measures the impact we generate. Calculate this comparison: one single-use plastic bottle per day during the school year ($200$ days) versus a reusable steel bottle that lasts $5$ school years.

1. a) How many plastic bottles does each option consume over $5$ school years ($1.000$ days)?
2. b) If manufacturing the steel bottle is equivalent to $30$ plastic bottles, from which day onwards is it worth using the reusable one? Explain your calculation.

The sharing economy consists of sharing underused resources. Classify these examples as sharing economy or not and justify your answer: (a) a neighbourhood board game library; (b) buying a drill that you will use twice in your life; (c) the school textbook scheme; (d) renting a holiday apartment managed by a company with $200$ flats.

Explain in your own words what the social and solidarity economy is and name two examples that could work in your school or neighbourhood (a cooperative, a barter association, a time bank). What distinguishes it from a traditional business?

Explain what a time bank is (swapping hours of skills with no money) and give three examples of services you could offer and three you would like to receive. What problem of money does it solve and what new problem does it create?

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are $17$ global targets (no poverty, clean energy, sustainable cities, responsible consumption and production…). Choose two SDGs that fit this school project: 'a school uniform and textbook exchange hub'. Explain what the project contributes to each one and how you would measure it (what number you would record each month).

Every year your school generates whole cupboards of lost property, abandoned books, and broken sports equipment. Design a circular system for the school: what is collected, how it is sorted (repair, reuse, recycle), who manages it, and how it is funded. Provide two indicators to check that it works (kg reused, % of material recovered…).

'The circular economy is impossible: recycling costs more than manufacturing new, so nobody will do it of their own free will.'

1. a) Explain why current prices do not include all the costs (pollution, landfill, health) and what an 'externality' is, with an example from your surroundings.
2. b) Propose two mechanisms that would make the circular option profitable without relying on goodwill (landfill charges, deposit-and-return schemes for packaging, green public procurement) and analyse who pays in each case.