Central Taranaki pupil wins upcycling competition with wooden pallet creations

Stratford Primary School pupil McKenzie Reed with the Junction Zero Waste Hub education programme co-ordinator Dave Malcolm (left) and her teacher Geoff Dingle. Photo / Alyssa Smith

A Taranaki teen has turned plain wooden pallets into award-winning creations.

Year 8 student McKenzie Reed, 13, has won the Junction Zero Waste Hub Taranaki school upcycling competition.

McKenzie used wooden pallets donated by PGG Wrightson Stratford to create a gumboot helper and a book page holder.

“I got given these pallets and thought of a way I could turn them into something. I thought I’d make a putting-on and putting-off gumboot invention and a wooden diamond with a hole in the middle to help hold your page open.”

She created the products for the school’s build-a-business night, where pupils create and market a product to raise funds for the school. She decided to sell the bags under the business name, Wooden Creations.

“My dad claimed one of the gumboot helpers for himself and the page holders are popular too.”

Stratford Primary School pupil McKenzie Reed with her classmates, the Junction Zero Waste Hub education programme co-ordinator Dave Malcolm, and her teacher Geoff Dingle. Photo / Alyssa Smith

McKenzie said as the products were so popular, she decided to market them to a larger audience entering the region-wide upcycling competition.

“I had to create a business portfolio and talk about my business model and how I had created the products.”

She won a large jenga set for her school and a $150 Mitre-10 voucher to help with her business.

“I look forward to using the vouchers to help me buy tools and other things I need.”

The Junction Zero Waste Hub education programme co-ordinator Dave Malcolm visited Stratford Primary School to give McKenzie her prize. Malcolm said McKenzie is an upcycling superstar.

“We were blown away by the effort she put in. She had amazing detail in her crafting and her business model is something all adults could follow. She’s a great example of how people can create a viable sustainable product that makes a profit.”