Celebrating teen innovation
Angela McCarthy looks back at the development of the Earth Prize competition and how it supports young people developing solutions to environmental problems.
How it works
Our foundation’s aspirations are simple yet profound: to ignite a global movement fueled by the creativity and passion of teenagers. We aim to provide a platform for young innovators to showcase their brilliance in meeting the challenges of climate changes and sustainability, and inspire others to join the cause. The Earth Prize itself is a global $100,000 environmental sustainability competition for students between the ages of 13 and 19, which recognizes the team whose project has the most potential to address environmental issues.
Earth Day, 2024
Team FloodGate
Our annual winners are always anounced on Earth Day, April 22nd, were Team Floodgate, from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics. who took the top spot for their groundbreaking flood prediction and warning technology. Motivated by the increasingly commonplace flooding in their state, they came together to create a solution which could be scaled up for global use. Their technology, which will soon become an easily accessible app, allows governmental organisations, agencies and individuals to plan for flooding events, reducing damage and potentially saving hundreds of thousands of lives worldwide.
You can see all of this this year’s finalists and their projects here: https://www.theearthprize.org/finalists
Our competition evaluates ideas from teams of young people based on their innovativeness, scalability, relevance, and inspirational impact. We look for solutions which not only address current environmental challenges but also have the potential to become commercially viable or social enterprises, ensuring long-term viability and impact. Past winning solutions such as, Team Delavo from Turkey which created a device using integrated ultrafiltration tubes and a carbon filter to recycle up to 90% of laundry machine water, and Team Adorbsies from Vietnam, which created biodegradable sanitary pads made out of dragon fruit peels, have already attracted investor interest.
Learning content and mentors
The Earth Prize is also about learning. Throughout the process all schools who enter the competition have access to high-quality bespoke content prepared by the Foundation designed to inform, inspire and guide.
See the 2024 content page here: https://www.theearthprize.org/learning-content Teams are also assigned to a mentor to guide and support their team.
The global response
The response to The Earth Prize competition has been extraordinary. Teenagers from bustling metropolises to remote villages and from all walks of life have unleashed their creativity, proposing solutions ranging from tech innovations to sustainable agriculture methods. The Earth Prize has become a catalyst for ideas, a testament to the power of youth-led change.
Remarkable solutions
The solutions proposed by finalists that have emerged from the previous two editions of The Earth Prize are phenomenal. From ingenious tech innovations to community-driven sustainability projects, finalists have demonstrated creativity, ingenuity, and a deep commitment to making a positive impact on our planet.
From Taiwan, Team Big GEMS created filtering kits that degrade dye wastewater produced by the textile industry utilizing the power of fungal enzymes to break up or dilute the chemical dyes used in the mass production of clothes which are so harmful to the environment. They also hope their “Dyelute” system can be implemented in households to purify water sources.
Team Agrivision in California created a high-tech system to measure agricultural plant health during early, treatable stages to reduce crop losses and organic waste. Raging wildfires were affecting the soil and impacting farmers facing climate change.
Sabrina Zhang and Jack Prater on The Earth Prize and Global Environmental Projects
These are just two examples among many inspiring submissions from hundreds that were submitted in the last two years.
Student voice
Organizing a competition on this scale hasn’t always been easy, but we have learned a great deal along the way. We have been particularly keen to involve a wide range of schools, discovered the importance of collaboration, recognized the importance of ‘student voice’, and the immense potential that lies within each and every teenager, regardless of socioeconomic situation.
Peter McGarry, Founder of The Earth Foundation, thought the 2024 entries were quite exceptional as student-led solutions:
“Amid the growing environmental concerns and widespread anxiety, it’s truly inspiring to see young people from around the world tackling these issues head-on. The Earth Prize provides a stage for these innovative minds to demonstrate their creativity and the power of collaborative effort. Their solutions never cease to amaze me, and I hope they inspire you as well!”
The role of educators in the Earth Prize
Educators have played a pivotal role in the success of the Earth Prize, by incorporating the Earth Prize into their program, they have helped to inspire a new wave of environmental leaders, equipping them with the skills and knowledge they need to drive positive change in their schools, communities and the wider world.
The Earth Prize Foundation believes that their hard work deserves to be recognized. The Educator of the Year award honors those who go above and beyond in fostering a culture of environmental stewardship in their classrooms and communities. The recipient of the Educator of the Year award receives a prize of $5,000.
Looking ahead
MKC – Earth Prize Launch, CBS Naas.
The Earth Prize has become more than just a competition – it’s a growing movement, symbolic of the way in which young people can take the initiative and restore a sense of their own agency in a very real way when given the support they deserve. We are now looking forward to the celebrating the achievements of the next generation of innovators, the young dreamers and doers who refuse to accept the status quo. The Earth Prize may be just the beginning but we believe the impact is far reaching and is gaining momentum.
Earth Prize, 2025
And now this year’s competition is over, we are looking forward to 2025. The build up to each annual competition starts in September. Schools then have three months to become familiar with the format, submissions open on December 1st and entries close on January 31st. The 10 finalists are chosen in February and March and in April the winning team is announced on Earth Day.
Pre-registration for Earth Prize 2025 is already open: https://www.theearthprize.org/pre-registration And if you would like to know more about the way the Earth Prize is organized and set up, just click here: https://www.theearthprize.org/about-us
Why not get involved?
Angela McCarthy is CEO at The Earth Foundation, home to The Earth Prize. A Geneva-based nonprofit organization working to inspire, educate, mentor, and empower students and young entrepreneurs with innovative ideas to tackle environmental problems.
This global environmental competition for teenagers has currently involved 2000+ schools across 152 countries and territories.
FEATURE IMAGE: by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay