25/05/2026
What started with a question about polluted drinking water has now won three Indian teens one of the world’s biggest environmental prizes.
16-year-olds Vivaan Chhawchharia, Ariana Agarwal, and Avyana Mehta just became the Asia winners of The Earth Prize 2026 after creating “Plas-Stick”, using powdered tamarind seed as the base for an all-natural microplastic clumping agent.
The idea came after the trio visited rural communities where people stored drinking water in shared containers without access to advanced filtration.
Today, microplastics have been found everywhere, from the deepest oceans to the human brain and even placentas. But while most people are still discussing the problem, these teens are already building a solution.
The team received $12,5000 each through The Earth Prize to develop their creation and to make safer drinking water more accessible.
[Microplastics, Clean Water, Teen Innovators, Earth Prize]
