Three sixteen-year-olds India have won this year's Earth Prize. This award is the world's largest environmental sustainability competition teenagers. Teens can win developing innovative solutions to global eco-challenges. The three Indian teenagers won inventing a biodegradable powder made old tamarind seeds. A tamarind is a tropical fruit that is used sauces and desserts. The powder attracts microplastics when it is put water. The microplastics stick together and form a mass that we can see. The mass microplastics and powder can then be removed the water with a magnet. The powder is a simple, cheap way to make water safer to drink rural areas.
The three teenagers called their invention 'Plas-Stick'. They were extremely happy to win an award it. They said: "Being named the global winners the Earth Prize is incredibly special all of us, especially as the first team India to receive it." They added: "Tiny bits of plastic hide our drinking water, but they're too small to see. We made a special powder thrown-away tamarind seeds that acts a magnet these tiny plastics." Their website outlines another benefit. It said: "The collected plastic is safely turned small useful items... so it can't return to nature. This simple method helps protect people, animals, and our planet invisible plastic pollution."
