Click below to read a summary of the Packaging & utensils project ideas for Bronze, Silver, and Gold awards; or to go back to project ideas click here [2].
CREST Bronze
Investigate and suggest a ‘waste-free’ lunch programme for your school
The idea of this project is to introduce a school lunch programme to your school/college. The programme should encourage pupils to use recycled or re-usable packaging for their lunches. Produce a leaflet and/or poster presentation for the school. This will explain why it’s important to cut down on waste and suggest types of reusable packaging to use. You will also carry out some tests on reusable packaging to check it’s suitable.
- What sorts of packaging people use at the moment to store their packed lunch?
- How much of it is reusable? Don’t just look at lunch boxes – think about everything inside it. Crisps, sandwiches, even some fruit, come in packages which get thrown away. Don’t forget drinks, too!
- Find out how rubbish is disposed of. Find out about landfill sites.
- Which bits of waste from your packed lunch are biodegradable? How do you think they will be disposed of? Can any packaging be recycled? If so, how and where?
CREST Silver
Make and test fast food packaging
You’ve been asked by a to design a pizza box, and to make and test a prototype:
- The pizza box should keep a 12 inch pizza from getting cold when it’s being delivered. The maximum delivery time is usually about 30 minutes
- The pizza boxes should be low cost and they will need to be mass produced
- They should be easily put together, and easily thrown away again
- They should be fairly strong, as pizza delivery boys have been known to drop their goods! They also get bumped around when they’re on the back of the delivery moped
- The empty pizza boxes need to be stored in as little space as possible.
Do some research into pizza boxes. You could also visit a few pizza places and check out what their boxes are like. Find out what templates are usually used to make pizza boxes; you could simply unfold a pizza box to see what it looks like.
CREST Gold
Investigate the properties of materials use for cooking utensils
There are lots of different properties essential for cooking utensils. Research the various materials used to make the cooking utensil(s) of your choice. (We have used saucepans) Check the properties of different materials used to make saucepans. List the essential properties required. Why do we still have to carry out tests on materials even though you can look up their properties in data books and databases. Suggest why some cookware is so much more expensive than others. Investigate why some people have thrown away all their aluminium pans; why shouldn’t you make jam in a copper pan. Materials’ properties can be split into three categories: chemical, physical and mechanical. Find out which properties essential for a saucepan fall into each of these categories.