Rosie Stephen's care and love for the environment is inspiring.
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The environmental minded nine-year-old Ulladulla Public School student recently won a major competition.
Her video explaining why plastic golf tees should be banned impressed the Reef RADicals competition judges.
The Reef RADicals competition, launched by Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef and James Cook University, put the call-out to ocean-loving kids across Australia to share their brightest ideas to help protect the reef and in doing so, inspire others to think about how small actions can have a big impact.
Rosie took part in the competition to spread the word on why it was important to ban plastic tees on golf courses and save our seas.
"Did you know some really famous courses in England have already done this [banned the plastic tees]?" Rosie asked.
"I had to make a 90-second video about something I am passionate about which relates to the environment."
Okay Rosie why should we ban plastic golf tees?
"Because when they break, people don't pick them up and they wash into our oceans," Rosie said.
"Fish and birds eat them because they look like smaller prey.
"The bird's stomachs fill up with plastic and there's no space for real food.
"It's so sad, especially when people could use bamboo golf tees and I've even invented a biodegradable tee made from mud, grass and gelatin."
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The Mollymook resident is a big supporter of the Take Three for the Sea initiative.
"I always Take Three for the Sea and Moni and Simi from Treading Lightly got me into this when I was only six-years-of-age, she said.
The year four student said winning the competition came as a nice surprise.
"I didn't believe I won. I made the video ages ago when we were in isolation from school and I had completely forgotten until the Great Barrier Reef people rang to tell me," she said.
Professor Stewart Lockie, director of The Cairns Institute at JCU and competition judge, said the panel was impressed by the range and depth of ideas submitted.
"Congratulations to winner Rosie Stephen who identified a real-life problem came up with a creative and practical solution and put together a great video to tell the story."
Andy Ridley, CEO of Citizens of the Great Barrier Reef, also commended the winner.
"Rosie's idea ticked all the boxes we were looking for in terms of innovation and a clearly communicated idea," he said.
"The quality of Reef RADicals entries shows just how in-tune students today are with conservation issues and the interconnectedness of all ecosystems, from mangroves to the ocean and Great Barrier Reef."