Paper bags to plant seeds of difference

FOUR Ballarat Grammar students have won Alfredton Rotary Club’s inaugural environmental challenge.

Designing a seed-embedded, biodegradable paper bag to replace single use plastics still in circulation in grocers’ fruit and vegetable isles, year 9 pupils Lauren, Lucy, Sophie and Lizzy have received a $400 prize.

“Next to vegetables in supermarkets, the plastic bags still haven’t been eliminated for good,” Lauren said.

Creating homemade paper, the girls have developed a few paper bag prototypes in small sizes to combat the plastic problem.

The seeds within the bags would be seasonal, allowing shoppers to plant the bag and grow their own vegetables or fruit at home. Instructions would be printed on the back.

“It’s to help people who want to be more environmentally friendly but are finding it hard because they don’t have a sustainable way to wrap up their fruits and veggies in the supermarket,” Lizzy said.

“Hopefully it will help this kind of problem.”

Alfredton Rotary’s outgoing president David Sanders said the challenge was designed to encourage young people to think about sustainability, and how they could make a difference.

“It was exciting to see the Grammar girls’ submission come back to us,” he said.

“The girls have planted the seed here, and hopefully this inspires others to go on and think about how they can make a difference in the world. From little things, big things grow.”

The students will receive mentoring from local businesspeople willing to help them reach the next stage of the product’s development. They’re hoping to pitch the bags to big supermarkets.

Fifty-nine schools engaged with the challenge in 2021.