Finalists have been selected for the 2023 Earth Prize competition.
An initiative of the Geneva-based Earth Foundation, the Earth Prize is an environmental sustainability competition for teens. Each year, students from around the globe are invited to submit their solutions to one of the world’s environmental challenges.
The Earth Prize aims to empower change-makers, offering students the opportunity to bring their game-changing solutions to life.
Launched in 2021, the prestigious competition aims to recognise the students and schools with the top solutions to drive positive change and innovation in environmental sustainability. This year is no different as more than 1,200 student teams across 116 countries submitted their revolutionary ideas to combat the world’s environmental challenges.
“The competing teams in The Earth Prize 2023 have unlocked an amazingly diverse range of solutions to global environmental problems. No matter which team wins, we can all share enormous admiration for these ten teams of passionate students across the globe who have applied themselves to advancing our transition to a sustainable future,” said Peter McGarry, Founder of The Earth Foundation.
This year’s finalists are:
- Agripod (Leicester Grammar School, United Kingdom): Advisory system aiming to reduce fertilizer waste across the farming world.
- AgriVision (Polytechnic School, United States): A high-tech system to measure agricultural plant health during early, treatable stages to reduce crop losses and organic waste.
- Bactoplastics (Winchester College, United Kingdom): A cost-effective method of producing PHA plastic to substitute petroleum-based plastics for packaging.
- BIOCYTE (CECyTE Morelos, Mexico): A biofilm made from recoverable waste to help preserve fruits and vegetables from harvest to distribution.
- Climate Brawlers (Sharkya STEM School, Egypt): An eco-friendly treatment for transforming polluted textile wastewater into water suitable for irrigating farmland.
- Delavo (Bahçeşehir Koleji, Diyarbakir, Turkey): A device to treat and reuse laundry machine wastewater.
- Green Tea-m (Seoul Foreign School, South Korea): A biomimetic filtration system to mitigate the effects of eutrophication in crucial freshwater sources.
- Hemi Change (Bahçeşehir Koleji, Diyarbakir, Turkey): A biodegradable and non-toxic plastic which strives to decrease microplastic pollution of rivers to reduce the contamination of irrigated crops
- InvasiveAI (Liberal Arts and Science Academy, United States): An app using artificial intelligence to help farmers combat invasive species growth.
- Water Fairies (Tarsus American College, Turkey): A technique for converting discarded tangerine and banana peels into eco-friendly and carbon-rich filters to reduce heavy-metals pollution of water sources.
The finalists were selected from The Earth Prize’s cohort of Scholars announced earlier this year. Each of the teams was chosen by The Earth Prize Adjudicating Panel for their promise to accelerate environmental sustainability.
“The Earth Prize 2023 Finalists remind us what lies within the imaginations of such brilliant teenagers around the world – from all walks of life and circumstances – who are just waiting for an opportunity to share their solutions to specific environmental problems,” said Earth Foundation CEO Angela McCarthy “Let youth everywhere be inspired by this phenomenal cohort of their fellow students striving to make a positive impact!”
Each of the finalists has been assigned an Earth Prize Ambassador to advise and guide the students on strategies to heighten and amplify their solutions. This year’s Earth Prize Ambassadors include Suzy Amis Cameron, Jonathan Baillie, Beatrice Fihn, Kasha Sequoia Slavner, Navya Naveli Nanda, Gitanjali Rao, Okezue Bell, and Louie Schwartzberg.
Winners will be announced during The Earth Prize ceremony on April 24th.
The winning team will receive $100,000 to be split between their school and team members. Three $25,000 runner-up prizes will be awarded.
Earth Foundation Advisor and Secretary-General of the World Environmental Education Congress Mario Salomone will recognise one outstanding teacher or educator for their contributions, naming them Educator of the Year and bestowing a $10,000 award.
Earth Prize Participants will also select three mentors for the Mentor of the Year award to be awarded $5,000 each.
For more information, please visit The Earth Prize.
