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This collection has been built by a community of passionate researchers, students, and industry professionals as part of <a href="https://worldcirculartextilesday.com/" target="_blank">World Circular Textiles Day</a> (WCTD). 


World Circular Textiles Day takes place every year on 8th October. Our vision is to galvanise the collective ambitions and goals of people, organisations and businesses to reach a fully circular textiles world by 2050. Our mission is to provide a framework for circularity stakeholders to develop and deliver a collaborative, evolving roadmap and to chart circularity’s momentum annually from the 8th of October until 2050.

What does fully circular by 2050 mean?
- Shared textile resources, in the form of products and raw materials, are kept in **continual circulation**.
- Virgin resources are **replaced with circular materials**.
- Dignity, equity, and equality for the **people** involved in all parts of the circular value chain.

We need to know where we stand today to chart how to get to 100% Circularity by 2050. What circular activity is currently happening in the textiles and apparel industry, and where in the world is it happening? The WCTD Collection aims to answer this question by building the world’s largest digital library of circular textiles case studies. 

World Circular Textiles Day is proud to be supported by our 2022-23 Circular Hero Partners:
[Lenzing](https://www.lenzing.com/), [Texaid](https://retailsolutions.texaid.com/), [Bank & Vogue](https://www.bankvogue.com/), [Usha yarns limited](https://ushayarns.com/), [The Conduit](https://www.theconduit.com/), and [Asia Pacific Rayon](https://www.aprayon.com/en/)

## Want to contribute to the WCTD Collection? Sign up and add your circular textiles activities.

World Circular Textiles Day

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Article / Report

Impact on the availability of resources as well as their effect on living organisms, ecosystems, and components of the environment.

Ecological Impact

Impact on increased knowledge and understanding as a result of the case study

Increase Awareness

Contribution to social parity, or impact on social disparity

Equality

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

Efficiency gains on operations or transactions either through cultural or technological shifts

Productivity

Impact on the ease of innovation, and facilitating uptake of innovations

Innovation

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

Minimise waste through diversion: Instead of sending waste to landfill, it is redirected into other industrial processes for handling, treatment, recycling, recovery, or reuse in various forms. 

Minimise waste through design: At the outset of a process of project, plan and design such that there is zero waste or minimal waste during production, use, and at end of life. 

Minimise Waste (SDG12)

Reduced use of fossil fuel energy sources and/or increased use of renewable energy

Reduce Energy Consumption

Contributing to the improvement of biodiversity including species diversity, total number of protected species, and ecosystem health

Biodiversity

Producing indoor products for the home and office, such as furniture, including upholstery, carpets and wall-coverings, as well as cutlery, cookware, glassware, crystal, silverware, utensils, kitchenware and household specialties

Home and Office Furnishings

Producing textile and leather products and processing them into apparel and accessories

Fashion and Textiles

Utilise bio-based, reusable, non-toxic and non-critical materials

Regenerative materials

Ensure that biological products are properly managed and preserved

Maximise lifetime of biological products

Designing products that are made to last and to ensure longer use

Design for durability

Engage with the local community where facilities or offices are located

Community collaboration

Using <a href="https://echa.europa.eu/information-on-chemicals" target="_blank">materials that are not toxic or hazardous</a>.

Non-toxic materials and inputs

Designing products that can easily breakdown and degrade in the environment

Design for bio-degradability

Data, knowledge & information sharing

Conduct research

Information campaigns

 Develop research, structure knowledge, encourage innovation networks and disseminate findings with integrity


Strengthen and advance knowledge

VISION:
Products and services are designed for multiple use and material value retention, with maximum positive impact.

DETAIL: 
Imagine a time when…products flow via optimal collection and distribution streams into reusable and repairable product platforms. Reuse and access models are dominant, and products are designed for multiple recirculation before biodegrading (if designed to do so), or being broken down into reusable raw materials for production. People only consume what they need. Production and consumption wastes have been fully eliminated and multifunctional, season-less and timeless fashions are the norm, yet still fulfil our human need for expression and creativity without constraint. All business models, organisations, governments and citizens play a role in maintaining a healthy, functioning circular ecosystem.

Products and Services

VISION:
People are valued and supported in an equitable, socially just and resilient society.

DETAIL:
Imagine a time when…people and communities are at the heart of any sustainable and circular system. The planet thrives, enabling us to survive with balance and abundance. People are no longer passive consumers, but proactive participants. The ‘makers’ who design, build, reprocess and recirculate products throughout the value chain are treated equally and are equitable partners in shaping and benefitting from the system. Textiles/garments can be produced and repurposed locally as well as centrally. A blend of craft methods alongside more automated production provides regionalised, multi-faceted perspectives and fulfilling livelihoods, be they high- or low-tech. Wealth gaps are minimised and dignity, equity, equality is a reality for all.

People and Society

Slow strategies aim to keep materials in use for as long as possible, for example through design for durability and repairability. A more circular economy is also a slower one: materials, components, and products—and even buildings and infrastructure—that we lock in stocks are made to last. This will lower material demand in the long run, in essence also serving to narrow resource flows.

Slow

Regenerate strategies phase out hazardous or toxic materials and processes and substitute them with regenerative biomass resources. A circular economy aims to mimic natural cycles—by shifting to more regenerative farming practices, for example—while also maximising the share of circular biomass that enters the economy. Regeneration can happen both at the systems level (by designing regenerative processes) as well as at the product level (by switching synthetic to organic fertilisers, for example).

Regenerate

CE Materials

Impacts

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Industries

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Materials

A framework of policy instruments that enabled and encourage the transition to the circular economy

Policy Instruments

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A framework of policy instruments that enable and stimulate the transition to the circular economy

Nace Sectors

The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Key elements of the circular economy

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Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy

Topics

Urban Opportunities

Whilst no two countries are the same, there are still obvious similarities between some of them, with discernible development patterns and parallels in evidence. Common problems and shared solutions help place unique country identities and individual issues in context.

Whilst this classification is far from clear-cut and exhibits some overlap, it does underline how the discourse on transitioning to a circular economy needs to account for both differences and commonalities, if we are to arrive at a more strategic and instructive analysis. It also allows to highlight a set of key themes that are likely to be central to the countries that fall under the respective profiles. 

Country profiles (Build, Grow, Shift)

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A framework to distinguish between different country profiles and their circular transition needs.

Browse case studies by type of implementing stakeholder.

Implementing stakeholders

80+ circular strategies for product development 
organised hierarchically into three tiers
with tier 1 and tier 2 based on the Key Elements Framework

DISRUPT

It is 2050.  Full systems change has taken place. This wouldn’t have been possible without the immediate action and radical steps taken from 2020 onwards. Many targets had to be identified in the early 2020s and achieved by 2030 to ensure that the 2050 goal happened in full. A sense of urgency, turbo stakeholder collaboration, supportive government regulation and clear, data driven targets enabled the mindsets and systems change needed to transform to a fully circular textiles ecosystem.

A circular economics model underpins what we have created. It reflects and supports a living organism made up of makers, users and restorers, interacting across vibrant and interconnected networks. Checks and balances, alongside transparency and accountability, ensure a healthy system. Financial, environmental, and social metrics have the purpose of serving communities and the planet. There is shared ownership of profit and loss – across all three metrics – throughout the value chain.

This is what we’ve achieved over the last 30 years:

WCTD Themes

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The Circular City Actions Framework provides urban changemakers with five complementary strategies they can use to start working towards a more circular system. 

The framework is action-based to provide users with concrete strategic directions and showcase the desired outcomes of each strategy. 
The framework consists of five complementary **strategies**, under which **sub-strategies** provide further detail. Finally, each sub-strategy consists of a diversity of tangible **solutions** which are framed in relation to key thematic areas. 

Note: solutions are currently focused on:
- 🍏 **Food systems**
- 🏢  **Built environment**
- 👕📱  **Consumer goods**
- ⚡ **Energy Systems**
- 🚌 **Mobility Systems**
- 💧 **Water Systems**

More thematic areas are coming soon...

'Click through each of the five strategy cards below to explore the framework and circular economy case studies in more depth!'



This framework was developed in collaboration with ICLEI, Metabolic and Ellen MacArthur Foundation with support from the MAVA Foundation. Read more about it [here]( https://circulars.iclei.org/action-framework/). 



Circular City Actions Framework

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An action-based framework for local governments working towards circular cities

City Stakeholders

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Based on the work of [Bocken et al. (2016)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699661_Product_design_and_business_model_strategies_for_a_circular_economy), the Four Flows Framework serves as a simple framework for managing resource flows in a circular economy by using less (Narrow), using for longer (Slow), using again (Cycle), and using clean, regenerative materials and energy (Regenerate).

These different principles of circular economy can be applied to our socioeconomic metabolism: we can design stocks like buildings, infrastructure, machinery, and vehicles to be rich resource mines for the future, and design manufactured goods and consumables to be cycled and made regenerative. Furthermore, the focus must also centre on getting more value out of fewer materials. Achieving the aims of a circular economy—minimising material use, regenerating the Earth, and preventing material losses—can be done through these four key strategies mentioned above.

Source: Circle Economy. (2023). *[The circularity gap report 2023](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023)* (p.22). Amsterdam: Circle Economy. 

Four Flows Framework

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 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have used grasses and reeds from wetlands for thousands of years. They used these materials for weaving to make many different kinds of useful everyday objects.  Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have transformed materials from their local environment using skill and innovation for many thousands of years. The process of making tools and complex objects for a specific purpose requires a high level of knowledge of materials, processes, and designs. One excellent example of this technology is weaving, using natural and renewable resources to create items such as baskets and traps1.Baskets and traps were made with a very specific purpose in mind. For example, in north Queensland, bi-cornual baskets were made using a special design weave that allowed baskets to sit in running water to soak seeds for several days to remove toxins and make them safe to eat. This allowed people to eat a much wider variety of foods, including to prepare flours to cook with, that would otherwise have been poisonous. The bicornual basket also has an ergonomical design, made to fit securely and comfortably on the back whilst the handle part is hung from the forehead.  From this position, the basket user could carry a controlled weight easily while having their hands free2.Figure 1. Feathered basket Butjupuy batjkit, 2002, Ruby Gubiyarrawuy Guluya, Djambarrpuyngu, coiled pandanus, string and lorikeet feathers, from Arnhem Land, Northern Territory (Image: University of Queensland, UQ Anthropology Museum3)Figure 2. Bi-cornual basket of lawyer vine, from Cardwell, north Queensland (1890s) (image: Government of South Australia4)A wide variety of woven designs were used for fishing, gathering and storing food, and carrying water. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander weaving practices are intrinsically linked to the local environment as they are made from local materials. Examples from different regions include: Eastern Australia – wetland grasses and reeds, e.g. spiny mat-rush (Lomandra species) used to make baskets, traps, dilli bags and waterproof shelters Northern Australia - Pandanus (Pandanus spiralis), kurrajong fibre, feathers used to make baskets, mats, skirts, armbands, dili bags5- Figure 1 North Queensland – lawyer vine used to make baskets to carry food, soak food items in water – Figure 2 Tasmania – Kelp used to make waterproof baskets to carry water and ochre Torres Strait - Coconut leaf, pandanus6 used to make fishing nets, basketsBaskets and other woven items were traded for tools and objects from other regions7, for example, baskets made from plants from wetlands could be traded to people in inland desert areas, where there are few wetlands, in exchange for things like spinifex resin (which is a very strong glue). Baskets were traditionally decorated with ochre in red, white and brown, and sometimes also with feathers from emu or parrots.An example of a coiled basket weaving process can be found at:https://www.anbg.gov.au/aborig.s.e.aust/lomandra-longifolia.htmlLomandra longifolia, Spiny-headed mat rush (image courtesy of Australian National Botanic Gardens8)LomandraLomandra species are common around creeks and wetlands on the east coast of Australia. This hardy plant often used in creek revegetation. It is not always ideal in terms of what was originally growing there, but they are a useful resource to weavers and can be used to demonstrate to students basic weaving. If available locally (outside of a national park), they can be used in the activity in this resource.SustainabilityOne of the benefits of using local natural materials are that this tends to be a renewable resource, in that if care is taken not to remove all of the plants, they will grow back for next time. Natural materials are generally compostable, and once the object is no longer of use, can be safely discarded to break down naturally. This is particularly relevant today, when many man-made materials take hundreds or thousands of years to break down in landfill. There is now beginning to be more focus placed on longevity of products and end-of-life disposal of designed products.Designing and making objects from raw materials requires a lot of skill and time. A traditional handmade object such as a large basket would be looked after with a lot of care, unlike modern throw-away plastic bags, as it takes days or weeks to find, collect and prepare the materials, then weave the basket. Some materials are only available at a certain time of year, for example, some grasses are more plentiful during or after the wet season9. It requires a lot of skills and observation to find the right plants in season.Weaving todayWetland grasses and reeds were and are still commonly used for weaving many kinds of baskets and fish traps. Both men and women traditionally made woven objects10, although today mostly women carry on the tradition. Men made fishing nets, fish traps, and their own dili bags for carrying useful personal items or for ceremony. Today, more modern fishing equipment is used, and baskets tend to have more of an artistic function11, although still address themes of environmental sustainability. There is an art project from Western Cape York Peninsula in Queensland that uses discarded fishing nets that wash up on beaches in beautiful weaving art projects12. Weaving remains an important way of connecting to culture and country.Case study - Weaving fish trapsEel trap, made by people from Lake Condah, Victoria (image courtesy of Australian National Botanic Gardens14)A barramundi trap as used by Burarra people in Arnhem Land (Image: Questacon13) Fish traps are an excellent example of highly skilled weaving. Fish traps are known from many places in Australia including Maningrida (Northern Territory), Marrunga Island in the Crocodile Islands15, and Victoria16. They are used in rivers, creeks, wetlands, estuaries, billabongs and lakes. The size of the weave is important: “They were made so the little fish could escape while keeping the big ones to feed your family, so that way we still looked after the rivers.”17 “Take only what you need”(quote from Uncle Ken Murray18) is a very important rule in Aboriginal culture, and ensures there is enough left to keep the ecosystem healthy, and for other people. There are different styles of fish traps to catch different types of fish. Eel traps are long and skinny with a funnel at the entrance to guide the eel into the trap. Barramundi traps are much larger, wider and have a one-way lip at the entrance so the fish can’t escape.Classroom activity - Technologies (Design and Technologies) Years 3 and 4Students will make plans for the design of a woven fish trap, making drawings and considering the size and shape of fish being targeted, and how this might influence details of their design. Students will bring small items from home, and make a small collection of found objects to incorporate into their own weaving project, which will be made on found sticks. This will include a walk around a local natural area, and discussion of potential materials and their properties. Students will use their weaving experience to reflect on their initial design.Curriculum connectionsThis resource addresses the following content descriptions from the Australian Curriculum:Investigate the suitability of materials, systems, components, tools and equipment for a range of purposes (ACTDEK013)Generate, develop, and communicate design ideas and decisions using appropriate technical terms and graphical representation techniques (ACTDEP015)Evaluate design ideas, processes and solutions based on criteria for success developed with guidance and including care for the environment (ACTDEP017)Plan a sequence of production steps when making designed solutions individually and collaboratively (ACTDEP018)This resource addresses the following excerpts from the achievement standard for Years 3 and 4 in Technologies (Design and Technologies):explain how products, services and environments are designed to best meet needs of communities and their environmentsdescribe how the features of technologies can be used to produce designed solutions for each of the prescribed technologies contextsexplain needs or opportunities and evaluate ideas and designed solutions against identified criteria for success, including environmental sustainability considerationsdevelop and expand design ideas and communicate these using models and drawings including annotations and symbolsInquiry-based learning questionsTeachers should help students to address the following questions during the activities:How does the intended use affect the design of an object?How does the intended function of an object influence the choice of materials?In what ways can the choice of materials affect the sustainability of a product?How can making the object (a prototype) help refine and improve a design or plan?What are the benefits of working collaboratively with others?Activity 1 – Designing a fish trapSuggested timing for activity: two lessons; first lesson for investigation and discussion, second lesson for designing their own fish trap, plus discussion time at end.Required resources: Handout sheet with pictures of fish traps, paper, pencils, notebooksAfter looking at pictures of examples of fish traps students can draw designs of their own, considering the materials required, what size and shape fish they are targeting, and how this might affect their design. Discuss and look at pictures of woven fish traps such as those included in this resource. How do the designs differ, and why might this be? Students should describe the size and shape the fish they want to catch –  Is it long and skinny like an eel, or deep-bodied like a barramundi? Is it in a river, lake, on a reef or at the beach? How strong is this fish? Is it spiky or does it have teeth? Students make diagrams of their own fish trap design, with a list of materials needed, and labels on features of the design, e.g. the opening, the size of the holes in the weave. Students can prepare, either as a group or individually, a series of steps detailing how they would prepare materials and how they might go about constructing the trap. Discuss potential environmental impacts:  What is it made from? Is this a sustainable resource, is it renewable (i.e. does it use the whole plant, are there lots of these plants in the wild or on farms, is it good for the environment to use these, e.g. a common specie, weeds or recycled materials) How long the trap might last – can it be re-used? Is it recyclable or compostable, or does it use already recycled materials?Activity 2 – Investigating weaving materialsSuggested timing for activity: two lessons; 15 minutes of discussion, 30-45 mins for outdoor component, plus homework if appropriateRequired resources: pencils, notebooks, baskets/bags to put found materials in, secateurs (optional) Teachers are encouraged to reach out to local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander organizations for recommendations for the local area on plant use. In the classroom, look at some local plant books with traditional uses listed, e.g. Wiradjuri Plant Use guide19. Take students on a walk of the school grounds or other nearby natural area, keeping an eye out for potential weaving materials. Discuss what properties might make a plant suitable for weaving material. Consider things like flexibility, strength, leaf shape or ability to be torn into strips, waterproof properties, texture. Students can make a list of possible weaving materials. Many grasses and reeds growing in and around water are good candidates for weaving. Students may to collect some found objects they may include in their weaving project, e.g. leaves, feathers, seed pods. If there is no available resources within or near the school grounds, then the weaving material is encouraged to be ordered in from a supplier - rafia or dried grasses.Note: Students should respect the “Take only what you need” principle, and make sure a plant is not removed from an entire area, or all leaves off an individual plant. Remember that no plant, animal or rock material can be removed from National Parks. If collecting Lomandra, it would be ideal to take some from school grounds or garden with permission, rather than local waterways, and under close adult supervision.Variations: Students can experiment with weed species, some make excellent weaving material once dried, e.g. cat’s claw (Dolichandra unguis-cati)20, keeping in mind careful disposal of unused material. Students can consider the environmental benefits of using a weed species. Lomandra can be torn into strips longways then soaked overnight prior to use to make it more pliable.Activity 3 – Weaving from nature or recycled materialsSuggested timing for activity: one lesson, followed by 15 minutes of discussionRequired resources: thick cardboard rectangle (one per student), string or twine, masking tape or sticky tape, weaving material (e.g. wool, raffia, lomandra, recycled fabric strips)Students can try a basic square weave. These activities can be built on by a visit from a local weaver or representative from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community organisation. Take cardboard rectangle, approx. 20 x 30 cm, and tape one end of a length of string or twine in the top left corner. Wind the string around the board until you reach the bottom right corner (Figure 1). Tape it down. Children may need help with this part. Turn your board over. Take a length of wool/raffia/etc, and tape one end to the board. (If using wool, tape around the end with tape a few times like a shoelace end to make threading easier) Thread your material above and below each string (Figure 2). When you reach the end of a row, return back the other way continuing the above-below pattern. Push each woven row down towards the bottom for a tighter weave. You can alternate colours and materials (Figure 3). When your weaving is finished, turn board over to the side with the tape. Cut the strings in the middle of the back, then tie them together top and bottom, or simply tape in place (Figure 4). You can display at home as a wall hanging (Figure 5). Begin a class discussion about the weaving process:  What objects did they chose to include and any significance they have? Reflect on the time and effort involved; how weaving is a skill/technology Reflect on earlier designs in previous activity – is there anything they would change?There are a number of alternative simple weaving activities online, for example see: https://www.snaicc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/02516-1.pdf  1 Science principles in traditional Aboriginal Australia (2012) https://blog.qm.qld.gov.au/2012/08/01/science-principles-in-traditional-aboriginal-australia/2 Science principles in traditional Aboriginal Australia (2012) op. cit.3 Women with Clever Hands past and present. (2019) Retrieved from http://www.anthropologymuseum.uq.edu.au/women-with-clever-hands-past-and-present4 Australian Aboriginal Culture. (n.d.) Retrieved from http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/collections/digital-collections/australian-aboriginal-culture/details?id=A2580&term=&category=&state=&people=&categoryTerm=Basket&pageIndex=15 About Weaving (2019) Retrieved from https://maningrida.com/artworks/weavings/about-weaving/6 Basket (n.d.) Retrieved from https://catalogue.anthropologymuseum.uq.edu.au/item/15039?search_result=417 Indigenous science: Australia had ancient trade routes too. (2012) Retrieved from https://blog.qm.qld.gov.au/2012/05/16/indigenous-science-australia-had-ancient-trade-routes-too-2/8 Aboriginal plant use in SE Australia (2012) Retrieved from https://www.anbg.gov.au/aborig.s.e.aust/lomandra-longifolia.html9 Williams, A. and Sides, T. (2008) Wiradjuri Plant Use in the Murrumbidgee Catchment. Retrieved from https://archive.lls.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/495261/archive-wiradjuri-plant-use.pdf10 Aaberge, B., Barnard, T., Greer, S., Henry, R. (2014) Designs on the future: Aboriginal painted shields and baskets of tropical North Queensland, Australia. etropic, 13.2: pp. 56-74. Retrieved from https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/36680/1/Designs_on_the_future.pdf11 Anu, H. (2018) Fibre Art and Fashion. Retrieved from https://www.sea.museum/2018/07/13/fibre-art-and-fashion12 The Ghost Net Art Project (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.ghostnets.com.au/ghostnet-art/13 Fish Trap: Catching Barramundi (2019) Retrieved from https://www.questacon.edu.au/burarra-gathering/extra-information/fish-trap14 https://www.anbg.gov.au/aborig.s.e.aust/lomandra-longifolia.html15 A brief history of Indigenous fishing (n.d.) Retrieved from https://aiatsis.gov.au/exhibitions/brief-history-indigenous-fishing16 Aboriginal plant use in SE Australia (2012) op. cit.17 Tunstall, E. D. (2015) Be rooted: learning from Aboriginal dyeing and weaving. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/be-rooted-learning-from-aboriginal-dyeing-and-weaving-4594018 A brief history of Indigenous fishing (n.d.) op. cit.19 Williams, A. and Sides, T. (2008) op. cit. 

  During traditional times, Aboriginal people showed an ingenious mastery of physics to create hunting equipment and labour-saving tools.  They demonstrated knowledge of chemistry, held a deep understanding of biology through powerful observation and using all the senses to predict and hypothesis.  Additionally, they were competent at testing through trial and error, making adaptations and retesting to achieve a final result.   Aboriginal people were experts at reading signs signalling seasonal changes and life cycles.  They understood that the entire environment around them was intertwined and depended on careful stewardship of their custodial area to survive and thrive.
Traditional knowledge held by Aboriginal people demonstrated an ingenious mastery and deep understanding of Biology and Chemistry. From generations of knowledge passed down orally, they invented labour-saving tools and techniques aimed at making food gathering easier. The rainforest people knew how to make multiple uses of plants such as the buttress roots of the fig tree, lawyer cane, seeds, palms and vines.
Traditional aboriginal shields were developed using a variety of scientific properties including strength and flexibility
For example, they were able to understand that grinding toxic seeds on the morah stone would break down cell membranes and when put in running water the toxins would leach out.   They discovered that heating up toxic seeds would also break down cell membranes and remove the poison.  The Aboriginal people of the rainforest invented the bicornual basket to act as a sieve for the ground seeds.  They knew that placing the basket in running water, loaded with the ground seeds, the toxins would leach out. The cleverly woven basket could stay for days at a time in the water without disintegrating because of the vine’s strength.  These baskets made from lawyer cane, Calamus caryotoides, which is a prickly climbing vine were ergonomically designed to endure and withstand many functions.
The rainforest is a veritable supermarket, abundant in plant and animal food sources. Aboriginal people of the rainforest used their spearthrowers, firesticks, morah stones, nutstones, bicornual baskets and ooyurka stones to make hunting and the preparation of food easier.
The spear thrower (also called a woomera) is used with a spear. It acts as a lever to project the spear with force and speed.  This enabled the thrower to increase the spear’s trajectory over a longer distance.
The morah stone was designed to grate or grind down toxic seeds in preparation for leaching.  A push and pull motion was used on the stone with the topstone as it broke down the seed on the morah stone
The bicornual basket has an ergonomical design. The Aboriginal people of the rainforest designed it to fit securely and comfortably on their back whilst the handle part is hung from the forehead.  From this position, the basket user could carry a controlled weight easily while having their hands free.
The t-shaped ooyurka stone was designed as a scraper and was used with a push and pull motion to remove seed residue from the morah stone. It was also used to make a groove in a stone axe head and could be bound easily with twine.
Ooyurka stones were shaped to enable an efficient “pull and push’ motion
The nut stone was designed to make cracking open the hard exterior of nuts easier. The grooves etched in the nutstone allowed less force to be exerted.
Firesticks usually consisted of two long drill sticks and a case that protected the drill parts. The firemaker would use friction between the two drill sticks to make heat and a fire would result.
The Rainforest people built strong shelters made with lawyer cane, fan palm leaves, blady grass, rushes and barks.  Knowledge of tight weaving and thatching handed down through generations gave them the skills to waterproof their shelters against heavy tropical rains. Inside the shelters the people kept their precious shields, swords, baskets, axes, firesticks, ochre, boomerangs. Outside sat morah stones and nut-stones.  For many generations this lifestyle was maintained.
Without this deep scientific knowledge and understanding, Aboriginal people would not have survived for thousands of years.  

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Australia

Torres Strait Island Region

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The University of Melbourne

Many man-made materials take hundreds or thousands of years to break down in landfill. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have used locally available natural materials like grasses and reeds from wetlands for thousands of years for weaving different kinds of useful and multifunctional everyday objects which are completely biodegradable.Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have transformed materials from their local environment using skill, innovation and science. The process of making tools and complex objects for a specific purpose requires a high level of knowledge of materials, processes, and designs. They have traditionally woven waterproof baskets and effective fish traps using only natural and renewable resources.The Indigenous Knowledge Institute under University of Melbourne conducts a course for Year 3 and 4 on design and technologies where the students were given an assignment divided into 3 activities.Activity 1: Designing fish trapsActivity 2: Investigating weaving materialsActivity 3: Weaving from natural or recycled materialsThis study focuses on the science principles used behind weaving traditional baskets and fishing nets to design and develop new circular products with specific purposes.