Hollister High School juniors Hailey Greene and Kassidy DeVore were selected into the top 4 finalists of Springfield Business Journal’s inaugural “Coolest Things Made in the Ozarks” at the DoubleTree Convention Center in Springfield on April 28.

This event was created to celebrate and recognize products made right here in the Ozarks and to highlight the importance of manufacturing to our economy. Sixteen products manufactured across southwest Missouri were selected for inclusion and Greene and DeVore’s biodegradable flower pots made the cut. Hollister High School was the only non-business to be included.

Readers were then asked to vote on the top 4 finalists and Greene and DeVore were ecstatic when it was announced they had made it to the top 4.

Greene and DeVore’s flower pots are made out of their own biodegradable plastic they created and other waste ingredients such as grease, coffee grounds, and shredded paper. Every flower pot they make diverts approximately 15 plastic water bottles and other waste from the landfill.

While the night did not end in New-Wave Bioplastic (the name the students decided upon) being declared the winner (Eagle Picher’s Perseverance Rover Battery - the lithium-ion batteries powering NASA’s Perseverance rover on Mars - was declared the winner), these two high school students from Hollister, Missouri have inspired SBJ to create a youth division in the 2023 Coolest Things Made in the Ozarks. And the experience that Greene and DeVore received cannot be measured.

New-Wave Bioplastic flower pots will be available for purchase during the school’s FFA plant sale on Saturday, May 7. The flower pots can be purchased for $5 each.