By Oli Herrera

DECOMPOSABLE STRAW

Westside Academy students awarded for inventing decomposable straws

May 11, 2021 | 4:54 PM

PRINCE GEORGE–Two high school students in Prince George are among dozens of others across Canada that have been recognized in the Ted Rogers Innovation Award program for a project that will help protect the environment.

Grade 11 student Michaela Stillwell and grade 9 student Antonia Tannert have created straws using beeswax, crushed rose petals, and wax paper.

“We realized what a big social issue straws are today, so we decided that that was something we wanted to look into.” said Stillwell.

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The girls spent two years designing the decomposable straws. The costs average from $10 to $100 per straw.

The girls say that traditional paper straws we use now aren’t good for the environment.

“After doing some research we felt like it was the one thing we could work towards fixing. It is just like a small object, so we thought that was the object we could start with.” said Tannert.

Michaela and Antonia are now going to a virtual, nationwide science fair next week. They’ll compete with 68 other students for a prize of $5,000 at ‘Ottawa 2021’.

The students say they are hoping to develop a business plan to sell these straws in the future.

“It would be geared more towards individuals, simply because our manufacturing methods still are in the beginning stages.” said Stillwell.

It’s the first time the girls have competed in a STEM competition but they haven’t decided if they’ll compete next year.

Both Michaela and Antonia say they want to pursue a career in the STEM field, but haven’t decided on a focus yet.