A Bonnet For Good

Every year school students across the country make their Easter Bonnets out of an array of colourful materials, glitter, paint and plastic nick nacks.

Often the bonnets are used briefly for the school parade and are then set aside – but what happens to them after this?

Cannonvale State School considered how each bonnet could contribute to additional landfill and so asked their students to make their bonnets out of decomposable materials this year.  

One young lady who took on the challenge to create an entirely decomposable bonnet was Year Six student Chelsea Baines.

Her efforts were rewarded when she won the award for Best Easter Bonnet in the school after the parade on Wednesday.

Chelsea said she was thrilled with the win and excited to hear that the hours she spent crafting the bonnet with her mum, had been extra worthwhile.

The winning bonnet was made using an old Gum Tree that had fallen over the creek in her back yard.

Chelsea gathered sticks and created a triangular base to hold the structure in place.

She used pruned banana tree leaves to decorate the bonnet and cut little bilby shapes out of the leaves.

“Bilbies are the new Easter bunnies!” sad Chelsea.

“I loved this project and I think that more people could get involved because it was compostable, although it was definitely more challenging.

“I put mine in the garden so it could break down and when I checked yesterday it had already started!”

Chelsea was given a box of Easter goodies as a prize.

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Chelsea Baines in her compostable Easter Bonnet

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