The 2015 Year 11 students at the school created a herb garden out of old milk cartons from the school cafe and as a result won the young re-inventor of the year award from the State Government for their efforts.
The award was presented to the students by Environment Minister Albert Jacob and comes with a $1500 prize-pack that consists of composting bins, worm farms and re-useable sandwich wraps.
The students can also attend workshops on composting and worm farming.
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READ NOWCarey Baptist College curriculum manager for science Kathleen Lacey said it would make the students think they could do something for the environment.
“Students can do this kind of thing at home,” she said.
“This is the first time we have done this and it fits well with the new curriculum in a practical way.
“Instead of looking at theory, the students can see that things can be re-used and re-purposed.”
She said the herbs grown from the milk cartons would then be used in the food and technology gardens.
One of the judging criteria was that entries must use items that were routinely thrown away.
Judges were impressed that the students’ vertical garden invention was made from milk cartons from the school and the food from the garden was used in food technology classes.
They used wooden pallets bolted to the wall to hold the garden up.