27 August 2008
Five Year 13 students from Iona College in the Hawkes’ Bay have combined their concern for the environment and interest in business to create their own company called GrowGreen. Through the Young Enterprise Scheme the students have founded a company which offers one hundred percent biodegradable food packaging products.
The students’ inspiration came after viewing the film ‘The 11th Hour’ on a school trip. They decided they wanted to turn their Young Enterprise project into something that would help the planet. According to Kate Robertson, Marketing and Finance Director for GrowGreen, “We knew we needed to do our part to save the planet and thought about marketing something that was environmentally friendly”.
A trip to the Hawkes’ Bay Environment Centre helped them identify a market gap in the area of biodegradable packaging. After some research, the group decided that there was a need and desire for biodegradable packaging in the Hawkes’ Bay.
GrowGreen have created biodegradable disposable packaging aimed at the cafés and schools. Their product range includes PLA products, which look like plastic but are created out of cornstarch, and fibre based products. These products only take 40 days to break down in a compost or worm farm, compared to convention disposable packaging which can take much longer.
So far the response has been overwhelmingly positive, with a lot of interest from the local community. The students have been busy attending local trade fair and farmers’ markets and have had particularly good feedback about their fibre BBQ packs, which locals say are a lot sturdier than other disposable plates.
The students are also taking steps to make their business as green as possible, by using 100% recycled paper and recycling their own waste. Thanks to their hard work, there is also the added bonus that their behaviour is starting to rub off on others in the community and turn heads in the Young Enterprise system. “It’s really cool seeing the students make the adults change” said Ms. Robertson.
For more information about GrowGreen and their product range, please contact Kate Robertson (kate@growgreen.co.nz).
