2021 International YOUNG Eco-Hero Award Winners 

Action For Nature is proud to announce our 2021 International Young Eco-Hero Awards, which recognize young people 8 to 16 years old for their environmental achievements. We hope the accomplishments of these outstanding young people will inspire many others to preserve and protect the Earth upon which all life depends. 

Winners are divided into two groups, ages 8-14 and ages 15-16. Please note, the ages listed below are based on each winner’s age on February 28, 2021. Click here to download the 2021 Press Release.

Age Group: 8 – 14

- 1st Place: Mallayka Ianna Oddenyo
- Innovator Award: Kyle Tianshi
- Climate Change Activist: Sophia Mathur
- 2nd Place: Cherry Sung
- 3rd Place: Ayaan Shankta
- 3rd Place: Jacobo Rendon
- Honorable Mention: Romario Valentine
- Honorable Mention: Nihal Tammana

Notables

Mallayka cares deeply about the environment and saving animals. She started collecting plastic waste at the age of eight, after a disturbing experience made her aware of the plastic pollution crisis. One day, as she and her mother took a boat ride on Lake Victoria, near their home in Kisumu, Kenya, Mallayka saw a dead fish floating in the water with its head stuck inside a plastic bottle. She was shocked and heartbroken to see the animal killed by trash, and her eyes were opened to the pollution in the lake and all of the plastics filling the nearby landfill. In addition, she knew that poor communities around the lake had no transportation and were forced to rely on the deteriorated population of fish from the polluted lake for food.

After that day, Mallayka began to collect plastic waste in local communities, around Lake Victoria, and at her school M.A. Junior Academy Kisumu, engaging others in the community to educate them about the importance of reducing plastic waste. She also began upcycling collected plastic into flower vases, picture frames, table mats, face masks, hand bags, bangles and pencil holders. She now mobilizes other youth to collect plastic waste every Saturday at Kisumu Impala Park and other various locations, and then turn it into useful items, thus preventing it from making its way to the oceans, lakes and waterways. She even has a special yard where she can clean the collected plastics and use them for her various creative projects.

Winner of a 2020 Global Youth Award, Kidpreneur Award 2020, Green Kid Award, and Little Environmental Ambassador Kisumu, Mallayka is a passionate environmental activist, determined to prevent plastic pollution in Kenya and worldwide. She is also a professional model, poet, talented singer, current Little Princess Africa and former Pre-Teen Kenya, and enjoys modeling her trash fashion creations.

“There are uncountable problems that our mother earth is facing,” Mallayka laments. “Especially in Kenya, cutting down trees and not planting others is worse and this causes flooding in my country. Secondly, plastic pollution. Plastic pollutes our poor Lake Victoria and oceans, and kills many of our fish. Plastics also cause the spread of mosquitoes. Plastics are thrown everywhere and this becomes a breeding place for mosquitoes. Our animals are being killed because of plastics. We the public have a major key role to play in ending plastic pollution.”

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Kyle Tianshi
Age 14
San Diego, California, USA
Clear Water Innovation & NEREID

Being immigrants from China, Kyle’s parents didn’t have clean, filtered drinking water when they grew up, so they never let him drink tap water. Curious about why they were so concerned, he started to research water pollution and learned many astonishing facts, especially about microplastic contamination.

“There may be as high as 50 trillion microplastics in our seas,” says Kyle. “Studies predict that 90% of our drinking water and tap water could contain microplastics. Plastics adhere to toxins such as lead extremely easily and act as a vehicle for pathogens to enter our bodies.”

Kyle became very concerned about the health impact of drinking unclean water. He found that California is in the process of adopting a standardized testing method for monitoring microplastics in drinking water (SB1422, California Safe Drinking Water Act: Microplastics), however, measuring microscopic particles (<1um) in water is tedious and very expensive.

Determined to find an affordable and scalable solution, Kyle spent many hours in his garage, building mockups, writing hundreds of lines of Python code, and amassing numerous data collections. He invented NEREID, a patent pending, portable microscopic particle detector that can rapidly detect microplastics in water using a laser. It offers a low-cost alternative for families that do not have access to water filtration systems. 

With this cutting edge invention, Kyle was invited to present at the Water Data Dive, an annual convention featuring California’s top water scientists, by industry expert Dr. Scott Coffin from the California Water Board. Since, he’s received a lot of well-deserved recognition, including awards from the Office of U.S. Naval Research, Society of Civil Engineers, and Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers.

Kyle was invited to Washington, DC, and received the Rising Star Award at the 2019 Broadcom MASTERS national finals. Representing one of the two U.S. delegates, he participated in the 2020 International Broadcom MASTERS and connected with over 20 young inventors from many other countries. He also won the national runner-up title at the 2020 3M Young Scientist Challenge.

Kyle and his sister have founded a nonprofit, Clearwater Innovation, that encourages student environmental garage-lab research and generates awareness about the global water crisis. They hosted 12 community outreach events in 2020, and so far have recruited 50 environmental advocates across 6 states to run beach clean-ups, write blog stories, and post on social media.

Kyle continues to develop NEREID and aims to have it mass produced and adopted by the state of California. He plans to keep growing Clearwater Innovation, aiming to branch out to every US state and internationally.

“I was really excited and thrilled that my invention, which was made in my garage mostly using supplies from around my house, could generate so much interest in my community both local and abroad,” says Kyle. “My journey of inventing has taught me that students can make an impact regardless of age. I’ve learned that innovation doesn’t have to be expensive. Even with limited resources, I can still think creatively and make an impact.” 

www.clearwaterinnovation.org

Sophia Mathur
Age 13
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Climate Activist

That Sophia is a climate activist is perhaps no surprise, given her family background. Her grandfather was a scientist with IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), her mother is an environmental lobbyist, and her father is a physician who researches how to reduce the carbon footprint in the Health Sector.

Inspired by her family, Sophia began lobbying politicians around environmental issues at age seven. She has gone to the Canadian Parliament and US Congress with Citizens Climate Lobby, who changed their age restrictions to allow her to participate. She successfully lobbied the City of Greater Sudbury to declare a climate emergency, and urged Canadian Ministers to adopt carbon pricing. She met with Catherin McKenna, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, who told her that Sophia had a significant impact on politicians. “We made a pinky promise to keep fighting for the planet!” says Sophia.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sophia was limited from in-person events and efforts so she learned how to organize and run Zoom meetings. She was able to continue virtual striking every Friday and routinely engaged politicians in that forum. She’s hosted events with MPs, MPPs, Senators and was able to ask Prime Minister Trudeau and Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland direct questions about their climate plans online. In addition, Sophia lobbied her MP, Paul Lefebvre, for border carbon adjustments, and was the youngest youth delegate at the ParlAmericas sessions, which brought parliamentarians and youth together from across the Americas. 

Currently, Sophia is the lead youth plaintiff in an Ecojustice lawsuit against the Ontario government under Premier Doug Ford, for weakening Ontario's 2030 climate target. She has been awarded the reThink Green youth sustainability award, and was one of four kids featured in the documentary CitizenKid: Earth Comes First which aired nationally on YTV and at the United Nations Film Festival in 2020. She was also thrilled to be included in David Suzuki's Nature of Things: Rebellion.

“My goal is to create the political will to enact science based policies to solve the climate crises,” says Sophia. “I utilize these platforms to raise awareness about climate change and to demand action and policies from all levels of government. I ask politicians to listen to the experts and cooperate to protect the future of this amazing planet.”

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In 2018, Cherry suffered from severe anorexia nervosa and was hospitalized for three weeks. During that time, her only source of outside information was television documentaries – most of them about the environment and threats like plastic pollution, wildfires, and climate change – and Cherry reached a tipping point.

“I realized that environmental issues affect my future, and that I could influence others,” she says. After being discharged, she wasn’t allowed to go to school for a month, but she wanted to do something meaningful in her community. “I turned to environmental action,” she says, “which is what I knew was needed.”

Cherry started “Greener is Cleaner,” a youth-led organization propelled by “people power”  and focused on three specific areas to create change: economic market, public policies, and citizen action.

One of Cherry’s main goals is to reduce waste in consumer products. In March 2020, she executed a plastic straw attack in which over 100 people collected plastic straws attached to beverage boxes made by Maeil Dairies Co. and returned them to the company along with a letter requesting the straws be eliminated. The COO responded with hand-written letters pledging to reduce plastic waste overall, and a month later announced plans to eliminate the straw from their drinking yogurt. Cherry continued to pursue this strategy with other companies, in one instance garnering a face-to-face meeting with the Namyang corporation, resulting in them switching all of their oil-based plastics to corn PLA.

With Greenpeace Korea Green New Deal Civilian Action, Cherry led a group that monitors both the Korean National Assembly and the media, reporting on their activities and messaging around environmental issues. The 1st term group was made up of 60 individuals of all ages who strive to motivate and pressure politicians to work towards climate goals, and the 2nd term group was made up of 9 individuals who were more specifically interested.

Cherry also works to raise awareness about environmental issues in her local community and beyond. She initiated an international virtual conference called Eco Loci (locating eco-friendly lifestyles in different parts of the world), where anyone anywhere can tune in to discuss global agendas on the environment and share advice. She also speaks at international conferences and actively participates in Model United Nations to share solutions at a local level. At her school, she persuaded the cafeteria to switch from plastic to biodegradable cups, and install water fountains to replace paper cups for water.

“I used to be overwhelmed by so many urgent global agendas and wondered why the international community does not take action,” says Cherry. “Through my project, I learned that it was me who was not taking action. Once I started my project, I experienced making real change in my community. By starting small and taking action sustainably while expanding my project’s scope, I learned that ‘people power’ fuels the movement for change.”

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Ayaan lives in Powai, a suburb of Mumbai, India. Nearby Powai Lake is the town’s central landmark. Once beautiful and pristine, and a source of drinking water for Mumbai, these days the lake has become a dumping ground for garbage and sewage. 

Growing up, Ayaan’s parents took him to Powai Lake cleaning drives every Sunday, where he saw the trash thrown around, the water level gradually receding, and algae and shrubs encroaching to cover nearly half the lake. He thought about the deterioration, how the area’s overall ecological balance was being affected, and ultimately wondered whether the lake could be saved.

Ayaan’s project, “Conservation and Rehabilitation of Powai Lake,” aims to bring awareness among the community so the lake can be brought back to its original beauty, and the surrounding flora and fauna can be protected. He began by studying the root causes of the environmental degradation, working with agencies like Naushad Ali Sarovar Samvardhini (NASS), Maharashtra State Angling Association, and Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai (IIT). He carried out a detailed survey of the lake – from the water, on shore, and using satellite imagery – and conducted interviews with stakeholders. Using his skills in robotics, Ayaan recently designed the ‘Autonomous Spatial Pollution Detection Robot’, which is a self-driving robot capable of detecting pollution and siltation in lakes with spatial accuracy, which he has presented to a team of professors who are guiding him from IIT Mumbai.

Ayaan learned that with the modernization and expansion of the city of Mumbai, the lake became a convenient place to drain sewage, dump construction waste, or pump out water for construction purposes. He also learned that nearby businesses, hotels, and people living around the lake found it an easy and accessible place to dispose of waste. Most importantly, there was no regulatory body or enforcement agency who could safeguard the ecology.

In addition to working with NGOs to raise awareness locally and organize clean-ups, Ayaan authored an action report on lake conditions, which received a gold medal from the Homi Bhabha Balvaidnyanik Competition. He has constantly been engaging with the local government agencies to help find viable solutions to the issue of pollution in the Powai Lake and is currently working on a documentary about the Lake.

“I plan to further this mission so that the lake regains its past glory as a clean and vibrant water body,” says Ayaan, “which not only will help in bringing about the ecological balance in the thickly populated city like Mumbai, but also help in conserving the endangered species.” 

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Jacobo lives in El Carmen de Viboral, Colombia, a region known for its arts and culture, especially ceramics. It is also an area of natural beauty with many diverse birds. The birds, Jacobo says, “have given me their colors, song and beauty and have motivated me to know my country more, and to dream of knowing others through them.”

As part of his campaign to bring the beauty and value of birds to people’s attention, he has given interviews on local and national TV, written newspaper articles, distributed information through Facebook live stream, led field trips and recorded multiple bird counts. 

One day his mother invited him to observe local birds and it was so enjoyable he decided to prepare a catalog for school. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and he decided that instead of creating the catalog for his school, he would make an illustrated and photographic guide for the public and his community.

During lockdown, he continued painting illustrations of individual birds. Jacobo’s mother had an acquaintance who lent him a camera while he created a campaign to obtain one of his own. 

People contributed in various ways like buying illustrations, giving ideas and images for the guide, buying ecological kits, and donating. A well-known nature photographer in Colombia saw his campaign work in his photography class and decided to give Jacobo a bird photography course as a contribution. Plans for his guide are shaping up. The presentation copy will be given to the mayor, an illustrator is helping him with the layout, and his uncle, an artisan, will make a beautiful cover using natural materials.

Jacobo hopes his guide will inspire local educators to teach about the diversity of birds in El Carmen de Viboral, and also believes it could be used by tour guides to foster a new source of ecotourism revenue. Fundamentally, he wants everyone in his community to value the broad spectrum of local bird species, and to be motivated to take care of their natural resources.

“Birds are my passion,” says Jacobo, “and I want to transmit this to my people so they realize that their territory is not only rich in culture, crafts and art, but that it also has a great invaluable wealth that is worth knowing and protecting.”

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Although young, Romario is already an oceanic conservationist, a bird lover, and an artist.

When Romario was 6 years old, he portrayed an orca whale in a school play. This led him to research marine life and seabirds. He was sad to find that numbers are dwindling due to ocean contamination. He wanted to do something, and asked his mother to help him clean up the local beach. Since then, using biodegradable bags, he has completed 175 beach clean-ups. As Durban is a big urban area on the east coast of Africa facing the Indian Ocean, the beach has lots of trash. He also has found a huge number of tiny plastic pieces washed ashore; these he learned can be ingested by birds and marine animals causing them discomfort, disability, and even death.

Since his sixth birthday, Romario has become involved in several other environmental activities. He recently became the youngest ambassador for the Ocean Sole organization which gathers discarded flip flops. These are washed, cut up, and made into colorful products to sell at local markets in Kenya. Romario also recently contributed funds for 350 Acacia Trees to be planted by Zeitz Foundation, Kenya for him in the Segera.

Romario is especially fond of African grey parrots and is active with a conservation program called Birds of Eden in Plettenberg Bay, Western Cape, that saves these beautiful birds from poaching and abuse. In July 2020, he raised funds for the Umgeni River Bird Park in Durban which looks after more than 900 birds from 200 species. He also uses his birthday money to plant trees near his home and to sponsor tree planting all over the world.

Besides a love of sports, Romario is a talented artist and has drawn imaginative images of birds that have been featured in magazines and at exhibitions. He is active on Twitter and has appeared in many media outlets.

“I am passionate about the ocean, bird conservation and nature. I believe it is my mission to protect the environment and biodiversity,” says Romario. “You are never too young to help nature. I would like to encourage children to plant trees, to not litter, to recycle and to reuse. Let’s work together to save our beautiful planet.”

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When Nihal heard of a terrible accident in California caused by a battery exploding in trash, and when he learned of the harmful chemicals in discarded batteries, and that millions of single-use batteries are discarded every year, he decided to act.

Nihal founded Recycle My Battery (RMB) with a goal of bringing public awareness about the harm discarded batteries pose. Nihal wants people to know that dangerous chemicals in batteries, such as lead, mercury, and cadmium can decay and leak out into the ground, causing water and air pollution and harm to humans, animals, and birds. 

To spread the word, Nihal began doing school webinars, talking to libraries and businesses, and going door to door.  Along with information, RMB gives out free battery collection bins and organizes proper disposal. A major boost was when Best Brains, an educational organization with more than 150 locations in the US, asked him to place battery bins at all their locations.  Then Call2Recycle, a national battery recycling organization, offered free battery bins and free collection. So far Nihal has placed hundreds of battery bins in different locations.

When the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown occurred, bringing a temporary pause to personal approaches, Nihal took to social media, blogs, and webinars, resulting in greater outreach. Now he has contacts (and battery collections) in India, Dubai, and the USA and has recruited 75 volunteers globally.

In recognition of his hard work and success, Nihal was selected as a speaker at the International Waste Recycling Conference in March 2021 held in Virginia. His organization has prevented an estimated 85,000 batteries from going into landfills, and he is going strong.

His slogan is: “If I can make the earth a better place to live, you can! If you can make the earth a better place to live, we all can!"

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An environmental activist from a young age, Aarushi has long sought out opportunities to save our planet. With Aqua-Pods, she sets out to address the biggest problem of water wastage on a global scale: overwatering of plants.

Studies have shown that out of the 4 trillion cubic meters of freshwater used per year, 70% is used for agriculture and irrigation purposes. Fifty percent of this goes to waste due to overwatering, evaporation, wind, and runoff. At the same time, according to the United Nations, over 700 million people in 43 countries suffer from water scarcity.

Since 2017, Aarushi has been developing an Aqua-Pod – a “sponge” made of organic materials such as coffee grounds, potato, and banana peels that are proven to increase soil fertility while at the same time being 100% biodegradable. When placed at a plant’s roots, the sponge delivers stored water and nutrients through diffusion and osmosis.

Aarushi led her team in extensive experiments, research, development, and testing, and secured a provisional patent. Now the Aqua-Pod is being distributed in California, as well as through partnerships with NGOs in Kenya and India, with a goal to bring Aqua-Pods to every continent in the next decade. She intends to find a manufacturing partner to build Aqua-Pods for commercialization, with sales revenue going to fund international donations.

Education is also a key component of the project, and in February 2021 the Aqua-Pods team hosted Inventavation, a free, two-day virtual conference where middle and high school students devised solutions to pressing world issues ranging from climate change to fuel emissions to loss of native species. The team has presented at schools and conferences, and Aarushi testified before the California State Assembly in support of bill ACA10, which proposed to lower California’s voting age to 17. 

“Through understanding the distinction between invention and innovation, I learned that innovating solutions can be just as effective as inventing them. After all, knowledge is hidden in every corner of the world – whether it be the 7th grade science textbook from which I learned about diffusion and osmosis or in my garden where I observed my parents using tea leaves and coffee grounds as fertilizer – and innovation is a culmination of various learning and experiences. It is up to you to uncover the knowledge through challenging the status quo, asking questions, learning from observations and eventually applying your knowledge to real world issues and turning your passion into action.”

“The future of our planet,” says Aarushi, “is in the hands of today’s youth. We face some of the most pressing issues to ever threaten our environment: water crisis, climate change, global warming, and pollution. I aim to get involved in the community and government through any means possible and encourage my peers to do the same.”

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The huge city of Lima, with its population of ten million people, stretches along the coastline of Peru. John Abad lives there and loves snorkeling and scuba diving in the Pacific Ocean with its many fishes, rays, and turtles. But he became deeply concerned about ocean pollution, particularly plastic pollution. Hearing that none of the candidates for mayor of Lima presented any proposal for ocean protection, he felt impelled to act. In 2019, he began his campaign “No Plastic on my Beach,” and founded the nonprofit Save Our Planet. 

After volunteering for beach cleanups, John soon became the go-to person to organize and manage these. He focused on Marquez beach in the nearby region of Callao, known as the most polluted beach in Peru, and one of the most polluted in the world. A major source of this trash is the nearby Chillon River whose source is the melting glaciers of the Andes Mountains, but which becomes extremely polluted on its journey to the ocean.

Working with other nonprofits, such as the Ocean Heroes Network and the Oceanic Conservancy, John recruited volunteers from businesses, schools, churches, and city worker units and managed large beach cleanups involving as many as 2,300 participants. Before each event John would talk with the volunteers about the importance of environmental protection and the urgent need for clean oceans. He also talked with the Peruvian Minister of the Environment about how to effectively solve the plastic pollution problem.

Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, however, the beach cleanups had to stop. So John turned his attention to scientific research. Working with a PhD mentor at the USA Plastic Tides Global Youth Mentorship program, he set up quadrats on the beach and counted and categorized the pollution items. Back home, he analyzed the microplastics and recorded his results. He also collected water samples from the Chillon River and interviewed community members. It being a high crime area, this was potentially dangerous work requiring him to set up safety protocols and have community members accompany him. He plans to present this research to decision-makers and increase public awareness.

John intends to continue the beach cleanups once he can. “Planet Earth is our only home,” he says. “It provides resources and benefits – I believe we can make it a better world, and nobody is too young to make a positive impact.”

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“Did you eat any plastic today?” Tanya asked 250 puzzled elementary school students. It was June 2018, and she was conducting her first assembly on marine debris, explaining that 94% of tap water in the US is contaminated with microplastics. Later, parents reported that their children insisted on not using plastics that summer.

“The feedback meant a lot to me and inspired me,” says Tanya. “Ever since, I have been working to change youths’ mindset and habits by educating them about the impacts of single-use plastic and how long plastic takes to degrade.”

Tanya founded a global non-profit, Motion for the Ocean, Inc., to raise awareness about marine debris and to empower and inspire underserved youth by teaching them underwater robotics and encouraging them to think of STEM careers. She continued holding local assemblies, and published a children’s book about marine debris, Magical Ocean Adventure. Eventually she began recruiting student ambassadors to deliver marine debris assemblies in their local communities, distributing her book to audiences.

In January 2020, Tanya conducted her first international underwater robotics workshop in an Indian village in the state of Odisha. More than 450 people attended the inaugural marine debris assembly, and 250 students participated in the 10-day workshop. Tanya designed the experiential curriculum to empower students to innovate solutions to clean up marine debris, teaching them robotics with a real world application, and in the end they successfully used their remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to remove debris from the local river. Tanya’s curriculum is now incorporated into schools across Odisha, and school children have built many more ROVs to clean debris from the 11 rivers in the state.

The COVID-19 pandemic has curtailed Tanya’s ability to continue delivering robotics workshops, but she has focused on providing virtual events as well as leadership training and support to her 30+ student ambassadors in 12 countries.

“It was not long before I realized that there were other students who wanted to be ambassadors to carry the message forward into the community,” says Tanya. “My mission has started a wave of attitudinal change in the younger generation!”

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Luna had been concerned about climate change from a young age, and while studying abroad in Japan as a Rotary Youth Exchange Ambassador, she noticed differences in how people approached environmental issues and became aware that effective solutions need to be global. She entered a Japanese speech competition and spoke about the importance of taking action on climate change, winning at the regional and prefectural levels and becoming a national finalist. “Through this experience,” she says, “I realized that anyone can make a difference with their words and passion.”

Forced to return home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Luna decided to start the Effective Climate Action Project, a youth-led initiative dedicated to promoting effective and systemic solutions to climate change. A core part of their work is facilitating free, climate simulation workshops to inspire others to advocate for ambitious environmental action.

“For so long,” she says, “our focus has been on the climate problem, not on climate solutions. By equipping others with the tools to understand these systemic solutions – grounded in science, technology and policy – we can empower others to advocate for the changes our world needs.”

ECAP runs three different workshops utilizing computer models designed by MIT and Climate Interactive. These models harness global data sets and the latest climate science to analyze how different climate solutions and policy measures such as renewable energy, afforestation, industry electrification, and carbon pricing impact our current trajectory of global warming. As facilitators, they employ these models to visually and intuitively show workshop participants how their own ideas about how to solve climate change would affect aspects of Earth’s climate system.

In this way, ECAP teaches the importance of ambitious, immediate, global, and systemic action on climate change. At the end of each workshop, they implement a call to action, amplifying the work of other change makers and encouraging participants to get involved. 

 In order to shift broader public focus to systemic solutions, ECAP is also involved in online advocacy through social media, including a weekly “Take Action Tuesday” campaign. For the 2021 legislative session, they are supporting three local environmental policies in Oregon by presenting testimonies and running webinars, encouraging youth to lobby elected officials and interviewing activists working on systemic solutions around the world.

“Producing this project took bravery and persistence, but through the challenge, I have learned more than I ever imagined,” says Luna. “I’ve learned that leadership is not about holding power, but directing power – to issues that matter, and to people who need it. Most of all, this project has taught me how powerful standing up to fight for an issue you care about can be.”

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Amelia is the founder and chair of the Bay Area Youth Climate Summit (BAYCS), an activism network that was born out of a need for impactful climate mobilization during the COVID-19 pandemic. Amelia knew that, according to a UN survey, while 89% of young people agree that they can make a difference on climate, 84% say they need more information to do so. After attending the virtual Bronx Youth Climate Summit, she decided to build a Youth Climate Summit in the San Francisco Bay Area – led and run entirely by youth, offering their peers both education and pathways to activism.

In September 2020, BAYCS organized a day-long virtual summit that united 280 youth from 88 schools, 14 states, 5 countries, and 7 time zones. The agenda included 16 workshops ranging from coral reef protection to climate justice activism to environmental entrepreneurship. The summit concluded with school-based action-planning workshops. Participants were offered models and tools and were then challenged to develop achievable Climate Action Plans (CAPs).

Since the summit, BAYCS has continued running monthly in-depth workshops on topics including air quality, Indigenous activism, and environmental justice, attracting over 950 participants. They have also continued to advise peers on their CAP projects. One student is installing air quality sensors at every public school in her town of San Bruno. A group of Piedmont High School students is fundraising for school solar panels, South San Francisco High Schoolers are creating a community garden, and another school is implementing Terracycle bins.

BAYCS has also partnered with Bay Area community fridges and received $15,000 in product donations from eco-friendly companies including Allbirds, Plaine Products, and Avocado Mattresses to supply 350 hygiene kits. Aiming to address fast fashion, one of the world’s top polluting industries, they ran a second-hand winter clothing drive at four local high schools.

BAYCS now has a Core Team of 10 students and a broader Youth Advisory Council of 25 students from 15 different high schools in San Francisco, Oakland, Marin, and the Peninsula. 

“The climate challenges we face will require the broad and sustained involvement of our generation,” says Amelia. “I created BAYCS as an opportunity to set in motion this interest in fellow youth, and then to empower them to step up and make change with skills and leadership roles.”

Amelia was selected as one of 10 Youth Changemakers for a Fireside Chat with San Francisco’s Mayor London Breed, and has been a speaker at Fridays for Future in New York City as well as the UCSF Bay Area Science Festival.

“I have learned an incredible amount about environmental science, policy, and organizing, as well as building teams and keeping peers both motivated and focused,” she says. “However, maybe my biggest learning comes from taking action during this period of time. COVID stripped us of most of our independence, freedom, and connection. My work on BAYCS and our broader climate activism network helped me rebuild connections with my peers. By educating and mobilizing others, I found a purpose.”

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Karina is the CEO and founder of the Florida chapter of Bye Bye Plastic Bags (BBPBF), a nonprofit working to pass pro-environment reform, ban plastic bags, complete clean-ups, and educate the community about climate change and pollution.

Under Karina’s direction, BBPBF has partnered with other organizations across the state to enact the Ban the Bag Florida project. Initially, they sought to enact citywide bans on plastic bags as a starting point. However, in April 2019 the Florida Senate prohibited cities from passing local plastic bans. Forced to adapt and think critically about possible solutions, Karina ultimately proposed engaging district representatives to formulate a House bill. The group is now working with Representative Ted Deutsch as well as the Fridays for Future Miami political team, and is collecting extensive supporting research in order to move the process forward.

One of the main goals of Karina’s work is to advance racial equity by fighting for climate justice.

“We recognize that POC are disproportionately likely to live near toxic facilities and in areas that are the first to be affected by rising sea levels,” says Karina. “Through our constant political campaigning and involvement in local politics, we are working towards creating a grassroots movement to mobilize voters and help them understand that they can make a difference.”

BBPBF has hosted 30 drive-through voter registration campaigns, organized 10 strikes in Miami, and held 12 virtual conferences with different pro-environment representative candidates in multiple districts around the state.

Despite the challenges of COVD-19 lockdowns, BBPBF continues to organize clean-ups, garnering over 1,000 participants in 2020. Karina has also fundraised a total of $14,000 to donate to larger environmental organizations and campaigns in favor of the Green New Deal.

“I'm passionate about fighting societal problems because I have seen and experienced their impacts firsthand,” says Karina. “I choose to advocate for groups that are most affected by environmental issues because these are often the same communities that lack representation and voice when it comes to creating change. I know that I am in a position of privilege, and while all of humanity can be to blame for climate change and pollution, I believe that those who have the ability and power to fight for change have the responsibility to do so.”

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While eating at a bagel shop one day, Nithin observed the unsold bagels were discarded when the store closed. He had always been conscious of food wastage and found out that unconsumed food is a major component of municipal solid waste.  In landfills this discarded food gradually breaks down to methane, a greenhouse gas much more powerful than carbon dioxide.

At the same time he thought about the disparity between hungry kids and people not finishing food at restaurants. His belief that no one should go hungry in a world with plenty of food gave him the incentive to do something about it.

Nithin founded the nonprofit Zero Waste Initiative with the dual goal of serving people in need while helping the environment. He wanted it to be a fully functioning organization rescuing as much food as possible from the landfill and distributing it to the needy.

Starting with one store supplying one shelter, Nithin was soon approached by a number of high school students who had seen Nithin interviewed on local TV and wanted to volunteer. They made many phone calls and sent e-mails attempting to convince stores to donate unused food  to help people struggling with an  inadequate food supply. Initially some potential donors did not take them seriously since they were high school students, but they persisted. In the meantime they reached out to shelters and food banks to see if they would accept the donations for distribution to people in need.

In designing his initiative, Nithin had to ensure that all health regulations were met. At the same time his organization collected food for the needy, he educated people on how food designated for the landfill was bad for the environment.

Zero Waste Initiative now partners with 7 stores and has 7 volunteers operating 7 days a week. In 2020, they rescued $95,000 in food waste and arranged for it to be distributed through non-profits serving veterans, seniors, victims of domestic violence, people experiencing homelessness, and families in need.

“Given that food waste is an economical and environmental catastrophe, I learned to appreciate what I have in life and how important it is to share with the less fortunate” says Nithin. “Above all, I get a lot of personal satisfaction because I do this to support society and it constantly reminds me of what is important in life.”

0wasteinitiative.org
facebook.com/Zero-Waste-Initiative
twitter.com/InitiativeWaste
instagram.com/zer0wasteinitiative

Growing up in Long Island, Dylan was all too familiar with the dangerous algae blooms that have become more and more common around the world and are particularly impactful off the US eastern seaboard. Horrified by the devastation he witnessed, he began to research these toxic events that deprive aquatic animals and plants of life-sustaining oxygen. 

Dylan decided to write a children’s book that would educate young people about the problem, and motivate them to help find solutions to algae blooms and other environmental issues important to them. He was inspired by conversations with his peers that made him realize that most young people are unaware of water nutrient pollution and, even more importantly, don’t realize that they can make a difference simply by changing some of their daily habits.

Once his story was developed, Dylan found an illustrator and publisher, and the story came to life as Monster in the Water: Fighting Back Against Harmful Algal Blooms. The book is supplemented by an elementary school curriculum, and Dylan is donating his advance as well as a portion of the proceeds to environmental organizations working on water security issues. Through the Sierra Club, Dylan has also developed a youth-focused blog called “Earth Blogger,” where he dives into environmental issues, interviewing experts and exploring positive actions for kids to take in combating climate change.

“As a young environmentalist, I always felt I had to wait until I was older to make a difference, which I now realize is not true,” says Dylan. “Age is not a barrier to making an impact in our world. The only barriers are those we place on ourselves. I would urge young people to just get started, in whatever way they feel is important, to advocate for the environment.”

lisierraclub.org/earth-blogger
beatthebloom.com

When Luis was 15, he was hanging out with friends when he noticed the amount of unsightly garbage that had been thrown on the street. He convinced his school to give him some time with friends to clean up the street. When completed, the street looked great. His school was very proud of this effort and persuaded him to continue and to include younger school children.  Thus, the Yucatan Environmental Meeting (Encuentro Ambiental Yucatán) was born – a group dedicated to conservation, culturalization, and environmental awareness.

In addition to doing more clean-ups in neighboring areas and at the beach with permits from the Navy who control the port, Luis began working with elementary school children to educate them about the three Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). They took out garbage and recycling cans, began to process recycled materials, and organized an environmental fair for two consecutive years. Luis began to collaborate with other environmental groups and made many presentations to other schools and communities. On one occasion in 2020, he was a speaker and workshop leader at a regional forum for environmental sciences and human rights. 

His efforts were recognized with a diploma from the state’s Secretary of Sustainable Development (Cambio del Sureste College). Unfortunately, however, he did not receive support or funding from his local government. Funding is a problem and mostly expenses have been financed out of the group’s own pockets. He feels that many people in his community do not seem to care about burning garbage, leaving trash in the streets and much more, so Luis has an uphill battle. He is persuading candidates for local office to take up environmental concerns. 

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of local support and finances, Luis plans to continue. He is proud that, with the support of his teachers, friends, and family, he has been able to start and maintain an environmental awareness movement in his community, and he is determined to “stand up and fight.”

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instagram.com/luis_may_cua

Ashwin is a young scientist living in Southern California who has two foremost passions in life: a passion for learning about nature, wildlife, and especially birds, and a passion for communicating what he knows to others. He works hard to protect birds and their natural habitats through conservation, citizen science engagement, and encouraging native-plant landscaping.

Some time ago, Ashwin moved with his family from Oregon to Southern California. Observing his new surroundings, he noticed the lack of butterflies, insects, and birdsong. He realized that non-native (exotic) plantings created a sterile environment and set out to educate the public about the advantages of native plants. He researched and produced a brochure sponsored by the Pasadena Audubon Society and distributed it to government officials, nonprofits, and nurseries, illustrating which non-native plants could be replaced with natives.

Ashwin became chair of the Conservation and Advocacy Committee at Pasadena Audubon, working with the organization to propose bird-friendly street trees for the city. He has recently created an infographic on preventing window-collision deaths of migrating birds, accounting for an estimated one billion bird deaths per year.

Rooted in the belief that humans and nature can thrive in harmony with the help of science, Ashwin founded the NativeBiota project in 2018, aiming to promote the conservation of native species, especially birds, and their habitats through scientific research, stakeholder education, and community empowerment. 

“The Earth I love is in trouble and in imminent danger of collapse due to severe habitat loss, climate change, pollution, and a host of other human-induced impacts,” he says, while lamenting the loss of biodiversity. “One of the gravest challenges scientists face is a lack of understanding and education from the general public, including some in positions of power.”

“I believe that conservation can only ever be effective if it is science-based and community-driven,” says Ashwin. “I envision a world that views native plant and animal species as valuable and crucial components of our communities, and where conservation is put into practice by stakeholders at every level.”

nativebiota.org

Romal has long been concerned with the rapid pace of climate change. In thinking through ways she might be able to help, she realized there was an important aspect of finding solutions that often gets overlooked: creativity and imagination. Her initiative, Reimagining Earth, strives to normalize the use of creativity to combat environmental problems, and enable a literal reimagining of Earth’s ecology.

Reimagining Earth’s varied projects include mapmaking to account for global urbanization rates and to inform more accurate carbon footprint estimates, amassing a collection of 75 unique maps. Romal has hosted 15 youth filmmaking workshops, aiming to inspire the use of film as a means to galvanize action on climate change. Inspired by a childhood passion for origami, she organized a broad community of participants to create 1,350 origami crafts using recycled materials, and then distributed them as therapeutic gifts.

In an effort to increase environmental educational standards and address gaps in current environmental legislation, Romal approached her city’s mayor and proposed the creation of an Environmental Youth Council – her proposal was officially adopted as part of the city’s Climate Action Plan for 2030 and Beyond, spurring the creation of similar Environmental Youth Councils in neighboring cities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Romal launched a digital environmental magazine and a podcast series, through her school’s Environmental Club. She was named a Planet Hero by EarthX, and provided with a televised segment where she sought to inspire youth worldwide to tackle environmental challenges with an open, creative mindset.

“After hearing that many of my peers wanted to join the environmental movement but were unsure of how to incorporate their diverse and seemingly unrelated interests, I established an organization that showcases how we can draw upon all of our distinct passions in order to innovate solutions to environmental problems like climate change,” says Romal.

reimaginingearth.org

One day in 2016, Avni was at a doctor’s office and noticed the staff removing and throwing away batteries from crucial medical monitoring equipment after just a single use. Only fresh batteries could be trusted to work efficiently in such sensitive equipment, she was told. Avni was very concerned. She had learned about batteries while visiting Freshkills Park on Staten Island, New York – a landfill which has now been turned into a park.

“Batteries make up 20% of the household hazardous materials in American landfills,” says Avni. “As the battery casing corrodes, chemicals leach into the soil and make their way into our water supply. Eventually they reach the ocean and harm our marine wildlife. In fact, they adversely affect our entire ecosystem.”

Avni gave the doctor’s office a bin for the batteries, and began to collect them regularly. She invited other medical offices to do the same. Not all agreed, but many did ,and she now has bins in New York and New Jersey.

Avni takes the partially used batteries home, weighs, counts, and tests them, then sorts them by size and company. She then creates packets of batteries for redistribution, enlisting the help of her younger brother to decorate the envelopes and write a recycling message on each one. 

So far, Avni has distributed 4,000 packets containing 28,000 batteries, weighing over 1,400 pounds. When handing the battery packets to people, she initiates a conversation about the importance of reusing, recycling, and responsibly disposing of batteries. In addition to giving away batteries to people in her community, she has distributed them at the American Museum of Natural History and the New York Urban Park Ranger center. She has also given presentations about reusing batteries at Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and at Freshkills Park. During the COVID-19 pandemic she gave away 3,000 batteries to front line and hospital workers.

“Using our sources judiciously, reusing products and recycling will help keep our planet green. I hope to find new ways to save the earth for our future,” says Avni, who has founded her own nonprofit, Change Will Happen.

changewillhappen.org/battery-project