Sustainability is of paramount importance to the Gen Z generation. According to a 2021 Pew Research reportAccording to 76 percent of respondents, climate change is one of the top societal concerns.
Sustainability is the ability to meet the needs of the present generation while also ensuring that future generations are well-served. This is a popular issue among the youth, as 73 percent of Gen Z customers surveyed by 2020 First Insights said they are willing to spend more to purchase sustainable products.
Many young entrepreneurs, climate activists, and social activists recognize the importance of sustainability to a greener planet. They have developed solutions to protect the environment.
SocialStoryThis video shows some of these young activists/innovators doing their part to save our environment.
Anushree Pratap, Tisya Devi
I have been a part of many educational initiatives. Anushree Pratap(19) Tisya Dewan(17) The climate literacy of students in colleges and schools is not a part of the environmental courses they have been exposed to.
The Nitara youth initiative was founded by the girls in 2021 to promote climate literacy. They are on a mission together to offer more environmental courses for children and adults.
Anushree & Tisya are currently working together on two concurrent projects. Eco-Net is the first project. It focuses on climate literacy. Here, the team makes available resources under structured modules and posts them on its website.
The second initiative Green Column, a newsletter that is sent out monthly, brings young voices into the forefront and gives adequate coverage to climate problems in India, often ignored by mainstream media.
Sri Nihal Tammana
An Indian-American, Sri Nihal TammanaFondated Recycle my batteryIn 2019, we will be focusing on the harmful effects of batteries being disposed of on the environment. The NGO, based in the USA, aims to encourage and facilitate recycling through safe disposal and educate others about the process.
Nihal with the battery and the bin
To make the world safe from fires, the 12-year-old has been trying to get rid of all battery pollutants. He estimates that worldwide, more than 15 billion batteries containing toxic chemical substances are discarded in the trash each year. This improper disposal can cause fires and pollution, putting lives at risk for millions of animals and people.
His 150+ team of young children has helped him and his family to date. More than 150,000 batteries have been recycledMore than 1.5 million people have been educated about the importance of recycling old batteries.
Vishwa Iyer
Vishwa, a nature lover and activist, was inspired to act when he saw the high number of deaths from Indian air pollution.
He built the first house in 2021. Air Variance AuthorityAn app that uses images to determine air quality. AVA has two models. One is a 16-layer convolutional neural model that is deployed on Google Cloud. The model can predict which AQI bucket a photo will fall into when it is uploaded.
The other model is for rural Indians. Does not require internet. It’s a simple algorithm that determines what the sky looks like in the photo. It compares them with the data and finds the closest value. The closest neighbour is assigned the same AQI category as the picture.
Vishwa has partnered up with several local foundations, such as Chopra FoundationAVA can now be deployed on the ground thanks to his collaboration with local governments. He is also working closely with panchayats as well as local governments to update public health guidance.
Khushi Chindaliya
Khushi Chindaliya (17 years old) has been passionately involved with nature since childhood. After seeing her hometown turned into a concrete jungle, the teenager felt inspired to protect nature.
Because of her passion for conserving the environment, Surat resident was recently named the Regional Ambassador for India by UN Environment Programme (UNEP – Tunza Eco-Generation).
Khushi spent time studying the causes of environmental degradation and the consequences. She is currently working on an online program to share reports and speak on the government’s environmental policies and how education can stop the decline.
Siyona Vikram
Siyona Vikram is a speaker, podcaster, and social entrepreneur. She was seven when she fell in love the podcast idea. Little Mind Chats is her podcast that informs children about current events and educates them on the limitations of their textbooks.
One podcast she listened to revealed that turtles were being killed by plastic pollution. This led to the creation of Little WISE club2020. Siyona hopes to inspire children all over the world to use toys made from sustainable and biodegradable materials through her club.
Siyona’s club raises awareness about plastic toys and their impact on the environment. She also collects plastic toys from children, and does her best not to let them end up in landfills or water sources.
