By Michael Gorman

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

An entrepreneurship class at Yarmouth Consolidated Memorial High School is hoping to shred the competition with its latest business venture.

Eco-Shreds is a company created by the students of Rebecca Fraser's Entrepreneurship 12 class. The group decided to work together on one business model and came up with the idea to take all the paper in the school that was to be recycled, shred it and then sell it as packing paper.

Students in the class said they wanted to find a way to do something for the environment that could also provide for a viable business plan. Up until Eco-Shreds, paper at the school wasn't actually being recycled.

"These blue bins aren't even going to be recycled, they're going to the dump," said Jake Falls, a student in the class.

"We're going to start using (the shredded paper) as paper packaging and just try to beat the competition around town," said Phil Bouteiller. "We're selling it for lower prices than packaging peanuts - because they're bad for the environment, too, so we figure why not switch it up."

The group is without clients at the moment. They are hoping to appeal to the local arts and crafts community as well as local Ebay sellers who need packing materials to ship their products. Fraser said they already have a meeting with one local art gallery.

"We know there's a market there for small crafts people and artists in the area," said Fraser. "We know they do spend money on packaging material and . . . it's not usually environmentally friendly. We've got the product and now we need to get it out there."

Eco-Shreds runs the same way as any other business. There are various roles in the company and all of the students have a hand in the operation. Some are responsible for marketing and advertising, some are in charge of collecting the paper and designing boxes to hold the paper, some handle the shredding and some are responsible for sales. The school's administration was so impressed with the business they cancelled their contract with an outside company for shredding confidential documents and now run them through Eco-Shreds (although it is one of the school's vice-principals who handles the shredding of those documents).

Derek Lesser, the vice-principal who will shred the confidential documents, said the project is an excellent way to get the whole class involved. He praised Fraser's ability to motivate the students to be both entrepreneurs and green citizens.

"I'm excited about the fact that in this current building this is happening and that we maybe are educating students to be more green along with being entrepreneurial."

As a further sign of support, the school helped the company purchase its own shredder. As part of the agreement, any profits are split 60/40 between the students in the company and the school. The plan is for the business to continue next year with future classes.

What is perhaps even more impressive about the project is the way it has united the class while also prompting some students to consider some day running their own business.

Danielle Keizer and Dylan Saulnier are both pursuing their own businesses right now. They are working with a provincial program that helps students start their own businesses. Saulnier is putting together funds to build his own skiff and purchase a motor to go Irish mossing. Keizer is looking to put together a business that would allow her to combine her interest in photography with someone else who makes custom frames. She said the class and the project have both been real eye-openers.

"I never thought that I would want to do my own business," she said. "That's not why I took this course . . . After we started doing this business I realized it was a great opportunity. It's a great learning experience and I never knew what goes into making a business. I thought it was a lot easier than it actually was. But there's a lot of steps that you have to do and it's very hard."