HP Honors Teens for Advancing Reusable Bags

A team of 14 teens from Georgia is getting accolades for advancing the concept of eco-friendly recyclable grocery bags that also fold into a pouch for carrying smaller items.

The group is called "Project My World," and it was just honored by PC-maker Hewlett Packard with the 2009 HP Responsible Business award for developing an innovative, environmentally friendly product.

The award was initiated by the Junior Achievement group and HP to foster responsible business practices among young entrepreneurs.

Junior Achievement is the world's largest group dedicated to inspiring and preparing young people to succeed and provides in-school and after-school programs for students that focus on three key content areas: work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy. JA Worldwide reaches 9.3 million students per year in 367,305 classrooms and after school locations. In 1975, the organization entered the classroom with the introduction of Project Business for the middle grades

According to a press release, a primary objective of Project My World is to enlighten consumers about living a sustainable, economically positive lifestyle

The teen team marketed and sold an environmentally friendly tote bag made of 100-percent recycled material to replace plastic bags at grocery and retail stores. The design eliminates the need for packaging as the bag folds to form a small zip pouch for easy storage and re-use.

The group has sold 800 so far and donated 20 percent of profits to a local organization, the Georgia Conservancy, while delivering a 250-percent return on investment to its shareholders.

“We are grateful to HP for its commitment to educating youth about entrepreneurship, good business practices and global citizenship,” stated Sean Rush, president and chief executive officer of JA Worldwide, in a release.

According to HP, its award program teaches the value of corporate social responsibility.

“Students who compete for this award gain valuable skills and an edge up on entering the world marketplace and contributing to economic betterment. We applaud their vision and are pleased that our work with JA is helping to promote how corporate citizenship can best align a business’ goals with its impacts on society and the planet," stated Yvonne Hunt, director, social investment for HP, in a release.

The winning team members were given five HP mini notebook computers as part of their award.

Photo courtesy of www.flickr.com via creativecommons.org.