“How wonderful it is that nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” Anne Frank Environmental heroes come in all forms. We want to highlight 9 inspiring young environmental heroes that will hopefully inspire you to get out and make a difference.
Alice Imbastari, 12, Italy - Focus: trash pollution - 2021 Motumundi Award Winner - Gave opening speech at the First Global Climate Strike, Rome (2019) - Began picking up plastic from the beach weekly - Participated at “The Language of Young Observatory” conference on pollution (2019) - Active in online strikes during pandemic
Demetri & Ethan Sedita, United States - Focus: plastic pollution in Tampa Bay - Started the Green Gasparilla initiative to bring awareness to the plastic pollution in Tampa Bay - 2020 Young Eco Heroes – Honorable Mention from Action By Nature https://www.greengasparilla.org/ https://www.instagram.com/greengasparilla/ https://www.facebook.com/GreenGasparilla/ https://twitter.com/greengasparilla
Genesis Butler, 14, United States - Focus: environmental and animal rights - Delivered a TEDx talk – “A 10 Year Old’s Version for Healing the Planet” - Has been vegan since the age of 6 - Leads the Youth Climate Save movement - Ambassador for Earth Day’s Footprints for the Future https://www.genesisforanimals.org/ https://www.genesisforanimals.org/youth-climate-save https://www.instagram.com/Youthclimatesave/ https://www.facebook.com/YouthClimateSave/
Haaziq Kazi, 15, India - Focus: plastic pollution in the ocean - At age 12 won a school competition with his innovative solution to the collection of plastic waste - Founded Ervis Foundation, it’s mission is to change in the way that youth consume and dispose of plastic - Ervis Foundation became a member of Plastic Oceans International’s BlueCommunities initiative https://www.ervisfoundation.org/ https://www.facebook.com/ervisocean/ https://twitter.com/ervisocean https://www.instagram.com/ervisfoundation/
Kaua Rodolfo, 13, Brazil Focus: tree planting - Started planting trees in southern Brazil - Ambassador of Plant-for-the-Planet https://a.plant-for-the-planet.org https://www.facebook.com/plantfortheplanet https://twitter.com/trilliontrees https://www.instagram.com/plantfortheplanet_official/
Maya Penn, 21, Georgia, United States - Focus: sustainable fashion - At the age of 8 she started her sustainable fashion company - Received a commendation from President Obama for outstanding achievement in environmental stewardship - 2016 Coretta Scott King A.N.G.E.L. Award winner - Honored at the SCLC Drum Major for Justice Awards https://mayasideas.com/ https://www.facebook.com/mayasideas https://www.instagram.com/mayasideas https://www.twitter.com/MayasIdeasShop
Gitanjali Rao, 16, United States - Focus: contaminated drinking water - Developed Tethys, a device that can send water quality information via Bluetooth to a device - Awarded the United States Environmental Protection Agency President’s Environmental Youth Award (2018) - Won Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge (2019) - TIME Magazine’s Kid of the Year (2020) https://gitanjalirao.net/ https://www.twitter.com/gitanjaliarao https://www.instagram.com/gitanjaliarao/
Boyan Slat 27, Netherlands
- Focus: ocean plastics
- At 18 he created a concept on how to catch and clean up ocean plastics
- Awarded Young Entrepreneur Award by HM King Harold of Norway (2015)
- TIME Magazine named The Ocean Cleanup one of the Best Inventions of 2015
https://www.facebook.com/boyanslat
http://instagram.com/boyanslat
Do you know of a youth that is helping the environment? Comment below or e-mail us at TrashPirates@outlook.com. *All images used are stock images.