The contests and science fairs held in schools around the world challenge youngsters to look for and develop solutions to problems that affect our planet. Peggada highlights some children’s ideas designed to help the environment and create a better world.
Eco-Hero, the edible water bottle
The idea comes from Madison Checketts, a 12-year-old American who, after seeing her favorite beaches polluted by plastic year after year, came up with an alternative to single-use bottles.
The “Eco-Hero” bottle has a gel-like appearance, contains 200ml, and is made of calcium lactate, sodium alginate, and xanthan gum. During the testing process, two problems (at least) arose: finding the right concentrations and ingredients so that the membrane would not fall apart in the hands; and the soapy taste of the outer layer and the water itself, which was solved by adding a teaspoon of lemon juice to the calcium lactate solution.
Madison began working on the project in October 2021 as part of her elementary school’s science fair. From there, it went on to the next phases at the school district, state, and national level. In 2022, it was a Broadcom
Masters Competition finalist, the premier science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) competition in the U.S., aimed at elementary school students. The goal now is to improve the water bottle by making it bigger, stronger and re-sealable.
Turning Styrofoam into a water purifier
Julia Bray, Ashton Cofer, Luke and Natalie Clay, from Ohio, invented a innovative process
that turns styrofoam into activated carbon to purify water.
The idea for the project came when two of the friends came across beaches full of Styrofoam (expanded polystyrene foam) in Central America.
Although Styrofoam is present everywhere, there is, however, no good solution for the material after use, ending up in landfills, oceans or beaches. The group then thought of using the carbon present in styrofoam to create activated carbon, used in almost all water filters. In this way, they created a way to provide clean drinking water and reduced Styrofoam waste with just one solution.
The project is now receiving funding from the eCYBERMISSION STEM-in-place program.
Action, from NSTA, sponsored by the US Army, and received 2 awards: the FIRST Global Innovation sponsored by XPRIZE and the Scientific American Innovator from Google Science Fair.
With this support, Julia, Luke, Natalie and Ashton plan to obtain a patent for their process, while working on improving it and applying it to real situations.
Wetland planting and water quality testing
Since the age of 10, Ana Humphrey has been working on solving problems such as environmental conservation, clean water, and reducing the spread of waterborne diseases.
Her first environmental education project was the creation of the kidslovemountains.org website (not active at the moment) to educate children about mountaintop removal, a destructive way of extracting coal with consequences for ecosystems and community health.
In 8th grade, she created the “Watershed Warriors” initiative focused on local wetland planting that helps restore habitats for native species and improve water quality.
To ensure the continuation of the project, Ana secured a funding grant and assembled a team of students to continue providing educational and hands-on experiences in growing, caring for, and transplanting wetland gardens to 5th graders, primarily in schools with high poverty and racial and ethnic diversity. In collaboration with the National Parks Service and local organizations, young people learn science, have fun, and support their communities.
The young woman also developed an application that improves water quality by removing bacteria, measuring the presence of E. coli. She has received several awards such as the US Stockholm Junior Water Prize Virginia and the Sydney Lewis Environmental Science Fellowship from the Virginia Environmental Endowment.
Sunlight air filtration
After visiting his grandparents’ home in India and seeing that it is unusual to open the windows because of pollution, Jai Kumar (12 years old) started working on a water-powered air filtration device. When he learned that access to water is not always possible, Jai adapted his project – Ultratitan – to use solar energy, more specifically, ultraviolet light.
The low-cost invention is mounted on windows to help purify the air in homes as it enters, removing dirt and toxic gases from the air. The project earned Jai 3rd place in the Young Scientist Challenge in 2014.
Train travel without diesel or electric engines
Caroline Crouchley, a 13-year-old student from New York City, has developed a sustainable method of public transportation that eliminates the need for a diesel or electric engine in trains, making them lighter, faster, and more efficient.
Its design uses long vacuum tubes, built alongside existing rails, to propel the trains. By connecting the train to a magnetic shuttle inside the vacuum tube, the carriages are propelled forward at full speed by renewable energy (solar or wind).
Caroline came 2nd in the Young Scientist Challenge and wants to continue working on the project to see how it might work on a larger scale.
The Big Sea Forest
To mitigate the rising temperature of the planet, 9-year-old Yosef Granillo has developed a solution by planting hydroponic trees (trees that grow without soil, in a solution of water with nutrients; they grow more and faster) in the ocean.
Since land space is too limited and solutions to eliminate the CO2 present in the atmosphere are expensive, unsafe, and limited, Yosef suggests planting marine forests. According to his project, 5% of the ocean surface (equivalent to 93% of the size of Alaska) would need to be used and water
desalination would be done by passive means, such as condensation.
After two years of testing, Lego has concluded that the new material made from recycled bottles is more polluting. In 2021, Lego announced that it
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This article addresses an action that promotes the adoption of urgent measures to fight climate change and its impacts. SDG 13 also aims to improve education on climate change mitigation and impact reduction.
To discover businesses that are actively working to contribute to this Sustainable Development Goal, click here. To read news, interviews or tips related to this Goal, click here.Esta publicação também está disponível em:
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Para estar a par de tudo o que acontece na área da sustentabilidade, consumo responsável e impacto social.
