Cross curricular topic: setting up an eco business

Challenge the class to set up their own business using John Dabell’s eco-friendly project...

CDs and DVDs will never decompose and yet around 2,500 tonnes of unwanted discs are thrown away every year and end up in a landfill site. What a waste.

The theme of this article is about working as a small business recycling unwanted CDs/DVDs and turning them into environmentally friendly clocks. The activities will help you create a series of lessons in which children research, design, make and promote their own product, rescuing compact discs from life in a landfill and turning them into functional art.

Activity 1: Get down to business

Introduce the basics…

Tell children that, as a class, they are going to use unwanted CDs and DVDs to make Enviro-clocks. Explain that everyone will work together as a business with the aim of making and selling CD/DVD desktop clocks profitably for charity.

Talk about some rules for business before introducing the 4Cs:

• Challenge the products already being sold, thinking how we could do better.
• Compare prices and products in the market place so we get the best deal.
• Consult each other and work as a team so we make joint decisions.
• Compete with other businesses so that we provide the best possible service and products at the best possible prices.

Say that these principles support and influence all your business management activities and decision-making. Display the rules on the wall so they can be referred to at all times.

Activity 2: Conduct market research

Find outwhat you’re getting into…

Explain that market research is the process of gathering, recording and analysing information about what people think, believe, need, want or do. Important areas for children to investigate are reasons for recycling, costs, competitors and customers. Organise children into groups to research each area using the internet.

Group 1 - Recycling

Challenge one group to find out about how many CDs and DVDs are bought in the UK, how many are thrown away and why they are not biodegradable. This will help children understand the rationale behind the business and provides a great opportunity to talk about the 4Rs – Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

Group 2 - Costs

Children will need to think about the components needed for their CD/DVD clocks. Can they find a supplier that offers quality components at a cheap price? Is it cheaper to buy a clock set or purchase the components individually? What about economies of scale?

Group 3 - Competitors

Ask a group to spend some time researching other companies that already make CD/DVD clocks. What do they offer? Do they have any unique selling points? How competitive are they? What do they charge? What do they do that we could do better? What don’t they already do this?

Group 5 - Customers

Another group can focus on target audiences for the CD and DVD clocks. Who are you aiming to sell to? Look at the websites of existing companies and see who they are trying to appeal to. Do they sell to more than one type of customer? How can we improve upon what they do?

Activity 3: Design the clocks

Hit on a winning theme…

Designing a CD/DVD clock will be the individual choice of groups, but ideas cannot be replicated or copied. What have other designers done before and how successful has their end result been? Discuss the themes that CD/DVD clocks might take. For example, sports, flags, animals, plants/flowers, landscapes, landmarks, etc.

As a class decide what themes you will focus on and allocate a theme to each group for the clock design.

Activity 4: Make it

But be careful with quality!

Making your CD clock is the fun part, but also the hardest to get right as the quality has to be good in order to sell. Any mistakes can be costly. Use acrylic paints to decorate the side of the CD that will become the clockface. Alternatively you can affix a printed design produced using a software package. Glue on the numbers and assemble the clock parts you have purchased (they should come with instructions).

Activity 5: How much?

Consider pricing and product promotion…

Pricing is all important. The question, ‘How much are you going to sell your clock for?’ needs to be carefully discussed. Price it too high and no one will buy. Price it too low and you might not make a profit.

• Ask children to think carefully about the clock in terms of its parts, the time taken to make it, and what profit you are looking to make.
• Product promotion is vital. Initially, start to think about how you will draw attention to your clocks in school. Will this be an assembly followed by a table-top sale at breaktimes? What about beyond the school gates? Where could you sell your clocks? What time of the year would be the best selling time?
• It is worth approaching your local shopping centre and asking them whether you can have some floor space to sell your clocks. This is normally done free of charge for schools engaged in enterprise activities.
• You might decide to sell your clocks via an online presence. This could be a dedicated website or via ebay. Literacy time could be given over to creating ebay adverts. For example:

This auction is for an Enviro-Clock
This unique CD clock comes with a desk stand and can be wall or desk/table mounted
The clock measures 12cm and is made out of an unwanted CD/DVD.
This unusual gift idea has a high quality quartz movement inserted and the brushed aluminium hands keep perfect time with the help of one AA battery (not included).
All of our clocks are hand finished
We have many other designs and will customise them for you
All our CD clocks arrive securely boxed, and fully assembled
Please allow 4-7 days for delivery.
If you are not totally delighted with your product, simply return it within 7 days for a replacement or refund.

Activity 6: Develop your brand

Produce the complete package…

Deciding on a name for your clock company gives children an opportunity to be inventive and canny with words related to time. This gives you a valuable opportunity to talk about time related idioms and catchphrases. For example:

• Right on time Ltd
• Just in time Ltd
• Once upon a time Ltd
• Quality time Ltd
• No time to lose Ltd

As a class, discuss the business names and then decide upon a favourite. Challenge children to use the idioms inside sentences and share them with rest of the class.

From here, you will need to think about package design and logos. A great website to explore is cooltext.com which lets you play and experiment with different designs and styles. Children can try out their ideas then copy and paste onto their product.

The Environ-Clock project is very eye-catching and easy to do. Everyone has old CDs that they have no use for and they can creatively be converted into working clocks that you can sell.