Ian Eames shows off his newspaper green bin bags
Ian Sanders may be the youngest person ever to make a presentation to city hall.
The four-year-old says he wasn’t nervous even though it was his first time speaking into a microphone.
Sitting in a full-size board room chair with his legs just reaching the chair’s edge, Ian gave a presentation last week on his green bin bag making company to the city’s environmental advisory committee.
He demonstrated to the committee how easy it is to make green bin liners out of old newspapers, while wearing one of his creations on his head. Ian was invited to make his presentation
Ian runs a small business called “The Bag Making Company.” Between soccer practice, junior kindergarten, and neighbourhood garbage clean-ups with his grandmother, Ian makes the bags, which he sells to his parents for two cents each. He also sells his wares to his mother’s colleagues, but without the parental discount he charges them a nickel per bag.
Compared to the green bin liners available at stores across Ottawa, two cents a bag is a bargain. At Canadian Tire bin liners cost more than $4 for 20 bags, or 20 cents a bag.
At his grandother’s house in Orleans, Ian showed off his workshop where he manufactures his bags. Among stacks of bags ready for the market, Ian spreads out six sheets of newsprint and uses a paint scraper to make the many folds that create the finished product.
Ian’s grandmother, Cathy Eames, says that Ian’s company is teaching him important skills about marketing and budgeting.
“He understands that there are costs associated with making his product and that he needs to make it attractive through marketing so he’s come up with a logo and business cards,” said Eames.
With the profits from his business Ian bought himself a stuffed dragon called Draggy which he says took him a “LONNNG” time to save for.
He says that the most important thing about his business is that his bags are compostable.
“It’s good that they’re not plastic because you’re not supposed to put plastic in the compost,” said Ian.
What he was getting at is that there is a distinction between biodegradable green bin bags and his newspaper ones. Biodegradable bags break down into smaller pieces, however, that just means that the bags break down and the plastic remains in smaller particles in the compost. Conversely, Ian’s bags are naturally consumed by bio-organisms.
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To find out how to make your own newspaper green bin bags check out the city's website www.ottawa.ca/greenbins click on the organic oragami link |
Ian also says that his bags help reduce the often nasty smell that comes from green bins that can attract pests and can lead to damaged green bins.
After Ian’s presentation to the environmental advisory committee, one of the committee members asked him if he would consider applying for a small business grant offered by the local economic development office in order to grow his business.
Ian’s reply was: “I don’t think so, I’m only four years old I'd rather show people how to do it.”
Anyways, Ian says he’s not interested in becoming a venture capitalist. He says that instead he wants to be a hockey player, inventor, and paleontologist – in that order.