Gleniti School pupils Sophie Chambers (left) and Emily
Davies-Martin (both 12) won the Environment Canterbury
(Ecan) junior award for year 7-8 pupils at last week's
Sanford Central South Island Science and Technology Fair.
Their ideas for reminding people to take their reusable
shopping bags to the supermarket have now put them in
contention for Ecan's top award for school pupils, the
Wrybill Trophy.
Gleniti School pupils Sophie Chambers and Emily
Davies-Martin have won an Environment Canterbury (Ecan) junior
award and are now in the running for the prestigious Wrybill
Trophy.
The girls have each received $200 prize money from Ecan, as
well as $1000 for their school.
They won the award with a science project that aims to reduce
supermarket plastic bag use.
The 12-year-olds won the award for year 7 to 8 pupils at the
Sanford Central South Island Science and Technology Fair,
which was held at Caroline Bay Hall on September 16 and 17.
After interviewing shoppers in two Timaru supermarkets, the
pair realised something was needed to help people remember to
take their reusable bags to the supermarket.
They designed and made prototypes for a brightly-coloured key
ring, sticker, and fridge magnet with a "Got Me?" logo.
The pair yesterday presented their findings to Ecan
councillors in Christchurch and are in contention for the
Wrybill Trophy, the organisation's overall award for year 7
to 13 pupils whose exhibits take an innovative, investigative
approach to solving an environmental issue facing the region.
Emily said the idea for their project, entitled "Bag Yourself
a Better Environment", had come up in class in July while
thinking about possible topics for their school's own science
fair.
"It came up in a discussion in class about ways to save the
environment, so we decided to take it further."
Sophie said they had found pictures of landfills filled with
plastic bags and animals that had died as a result of
swallowing bags or getting tangled in them.
"The bags are just getting dumped and it takes a long time
for them to break down," she said.
The most challenging but enjoyable part of the project had
been their survey of supermarket shoppers.
"It was embarrassing but fun at the same time," Sophie said.
The keyring would remind people to take their reusable bags
into the supermarket before they locked their cars.
The fridge magnet would remind people to put the bags back in
their car after putting away their groceries.
The stickers could be put anywhere to serve as a good
reminder, she said.
The pair's project is an ongoing one.
They are planning to discuss their ideas with the management
of one major supermarket chain, including having their
reusable bag logo painted at regular intervals on the surface
of carparks to serve as a further reminder to shoppers.
They plan to seek funding to produce a batch of keyrings,
stickers and fridge magnets, and sell them outside
supermarkets, possibly as a school-wide project.
Their teacher, Jane Fuller, said she was "thrilled" for the
girls.
"They have taken a simple idea that could make a huge
difference."
Bookmark/Search this post with:
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.