Their accomplishments will inspire many others to preserve and protect the Earth upon which all life depends
Our Bureau
San Francisco, CA
5 young individuals from India are part of the selected few recipients of the 2023 International Young Eco-Hero Award, recently announced by Action For Nature. These awards are given for doing exceptionally brilliant work by environmentally conscious youth aged 8 to 16, actively seeking to work for and resolve challenging environmental issues.
Eiha Dixit, a 9-year-old from Meerut has achieved 1st place in this year’s competition. Eiha is passionate about environmental protection and has been working to increase green cover since the age of 4. With her change initiative, the Green Eiha Smile Foundation, she has collaborated with volunteers to plant more than 20,000 saplings.
Manya Harsha, a 12-year-old from Bangalore, India, has secured 2nd place in the 8-12-year-old category of this year’s competition. Manya’s life mission is to increase awareness about issues of the environment and climate change. She actively uses platforms like books, blogs, and her YouTube channel, “The Little Environmentalist,” to encourage young minds to engage in environmental protection and implement eco-conscious practices in life.
Nirvaan Somany, a 16-year-old from New Delhi, India, has clinched 2nd place in the 13-16 year-old category of this year’s competition. Nirvaan worked on Project Jeans – Blue to Green, to reduce the waste products of the fashion industry and bring down its contribution to pollution thereby reducing its environmental damage, in particular the waste generated by discarded denim. By reusing the used jeans into washable and insulating sleeping bags for the homeless, he has effectively reduced landfill waste while offering better protection against harsh weather conditions for the poor.
Mannat Kaur, a 15-year-old from New Delhi, India, secured 3rd place in this year’s competition. Mannat is truly concerned about water scarcity and carbon emissions linked to freshwater supply and the treatment of wastewater. She has designed a system to collect, filter, and repurpose greywater from households for non-potable uses, thereby saving valuable drinking water.
Karnav Rastogi, a 13-year-old from Mumbai, India, found an honorable mention in this year’s competition. Karnav has worked tirelessly to increase awareness and mitigate the problem of plastic waste and solve climate change. He has written 2 books freely downloadable, “Kartik, Daddy & Plastic: A journey about beating plastic pollution” and “Kartik, Mixie & Monster: A journey about ocean pollution,” targeted at educating young individuals to reduce plastic pollution and address climate change.
Winners will discuss their award-winning projects and the role of youth in environmental action and take questions from each other and the audience at the 2023 Eco-Hero Conference on Saturday, August 26 at 10 AM Pacific Standard Time.
