D-Lab: Waste
MIT's D-Lab: Waste examines how low- and middle-income countries generate and manage waste, and how better systems can cut greenhouse gas emissions while creating enterprise opportunities for marginalized populations. The course covers consumer culture, waste streams, downcycling and upcycling, Life Cycle Analysis, and waste assessment methods, working through real case studies rather than abstract theory. Students build low-cost small-scale technology in labs, take field trips to waste-related businesses and institutions, and join art workshops and e-waste scrapping sessions taught by practitioners and artists. The approach is hands-on and multidisciplinary, mixing engineering, entrepreneurship, and civic engagement. Materials come from MIT's Edgerton Center via MIT OpenCourseWare and include lab exercises, case studies, and project work, offered free with no certificate. It suits anyone wanting a practical, ground-level look at waste systems in resource-constrained settings rather than a purely theoretical environmental science course.