Whiz Kid of the Week: Lovett Senior Avery Wiens

• Avery Wiens
• Lovett School
• Accomplishment: Avery's senior project led to the Peachtree Road Farmers' Market using corn-based biodegradable bags for the 2011 season. This will save a half-ton of plastic bags from entering landfills, according to the Farmers' Market. The Atlanta Falcons Youth Foundation provided funding for the BioBags. Amy and AFYF representatives will appear at a special Earth Day presentation at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Farmers' Market.
• Why it's special: Farmers Market manager Lauren Carey said in an e-mail that "when we did the math and realized the number of plastic bags heading to landfills from our market alone it was astounding." But replacing the plastic with biodegradable bags would be a huge project. Then Avery, an intern at the Farmers' Market, wrote a sponsorship proposal and did the fund-raising "to make the dream a reality," Carey said. The Farmers Market will use the BioBags for more fragile produce such as lettuces and herbs, as well as loose items like tomatoes and berries, the Farmers' Market said. The use of the BioBags will save a half-ton of waste (more than 50,000 bags) from spending hundreds of years in landfills polluting the earth. By comparison, BioBags will typically biodegrade within one year. 

“We are thrilled to partner with Peachtree Road Farmers Market to launch theBioBag innovation, which will help Atlanta move into a greener, healthier future,” said Penelope McPhee, president of the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, of which the Falcons Youth Foundation is an affiliated fund. “We are grateful to Avery Wiens and the market staff for identifying a solution that can work here and at markets across Georgia,” she said in an announcement.