Enterprising students concerned about the amount of waste going into landfill have put their principles into action by "repurposing" storm-damaged trees.

The Ripon Grammar School sixth-formers, who set up their own company to make eco-friendly bags, have created a sideline making wooden keyrings from the branches of trees blown down in their school grounds and near their homes.

The hand-made keyrings, decorated with their student-run Totes My Bag company "orange slice" logo are now their best seller.

Ellie Currass, assistant managing director of Totes My Bag, said:

The company’s sustainability director, Ollie Peacock, came up with the idea for the keyrings after spotting a fallen tree in Sharow, outside Ripon, and when two trees at school came down in a recent storm, the students decided they could also put them to good use.

They have now made several hundred pounds' profit from selling eco-friendly bags, keyrings and also greetings cards in the school foyer at lunchtimes.

Preparing to compete in the Young Enterprise North Yorkshire area final in March, they plan to branch into exam stationery kits, jewellery and badges, in addition to developing new bag designs. The team recently bagged the Best Teamwork prize after attending the Asda Young Enterprise Trade Fair in Harrogate. Ellie said:

Financial director Samarth Dasarathi said:

The Young Enterprise team of nine, led by managing director Lucy Crum, work closely together to decorate their bags, using lino prints created by operations director Anna Bradley, and create stencils for the keyrings using the school laser cutter.

Creative director Neja Mirando, who helped Ollie craft the wood for the keyrings, also created a digital design for their company’s greetings cards.

Ellie added:

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