On Thursday 16 February, our Year 10 and 11 Business Management students had the privilege of attending a guest lecture presented by Mark Bailey, owner of Balloons and Sparkle, in the lecture theatre. Students were introduced to concepts such as Sustainability, Triple Bottom Line (Planet, People, Profit) and Circular Economy. It was very timely that Balloons and Sparkle just launched this week, Balloon Recycling Australia, a world's first balloon recycling program.
Students gained insights on how balloons of all kinds including latex balloons, foil balloons and even plastic balloons can be recycled, to give them another life and incorporate them into new and existing products. Mark explained how balloon fragments are made into flakes and then mixed with resin to make ornaments, paper weights and fun items like teddy bears. A great second-hand use for balloons!
Apart from being able to witness all of the samples of balloon fragments and balloon flakes that Mark had displayed in the lecture theatre, our students also had the opportunity to touch and feel a recycled latex balloon with recycled balloon confetti inside.
With the new IB Business Management syllabus focussing heavily on social entrepreneurship, this guest talk gave insights to our students on the several initiatives businesses such as Balloons and Sparkle are instituting to reduce our environmental footprint, ONE BALLOON AT A TIME! Our students were very inspired by how an unconventional idea could be turned into a sustainable business model.
Leena Palekar
Business Management teaching faculty