The trio, The Hangarua (to recycle) Collective, are on a mission to turn disposable masks into planter boxes, and through many rounds of testing through melting the masks, they have managed to start small by making small pots.

They were prompted to tackle the issue of mask pollution, after seeing masks being discarded after worn, on the streets.

“It took a lot of testing of melting things down, to see how many masks we would need for each pot plant, these pots take about 40 face masks, which is a lot considering the size,” Charlotte said.

The group made small pots out of their testing samples, and when they offered them to followers on social media, “people just grabbed them, we managed to sell all but three and the one test one where we painted it black,” Abby said.

“We decided we liked the idea of the blue,” Jessamy said.

“But people then have the option to paint them with any colour acrylic paint they would like.”

The three business partners said they were happy to win the South Canterbury Young Enterprise Scheme regionals, but had been nervous before the event.

“We are going up against some pretty talented teams, and both have very creative and innovative products,” Abby said.

There were three companies in the South Canterbury Young Enterprise Scheme regional finals last week - two from Craighead and the other from Twizel Area School.

The three teams pitched their companies to judges Leonie Rasmussen, Gordon Handy and Nicky Hudson.

Twizel Area School’s Monique van der Westhuizen created the company Gold Tiki, aiming to reduce waste from paint brushes, the brush heads can be removed, to make for easier clean up, and reduce the need to throw out brushes due to damage from incorrect cleaning.

While fellow Craighead team, Slum-Bar, created by Sarah Boles de Boer, Savanna Paul, and Abby Mcleod created a bar to provide an affordable nutritional recovery option for physical activity, with natural plant-based ingredients.

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