The Earth Prize is an environmental sustainability prize for secondary education students awarded by The Earth Foundation every year.[1][2][3] The Earth Prize was first launched in September 2021, and first awarded in March 2022.[4] The winner receives US$50,000, to be shared between the team members and their school or educational program. Three runner-up teams are rewarded with $12,500 each for their schools or educational programs.[5][6] The competition also recognizes one educator and three mentors participating in the initiative.[7] The Earth Prize is presented by the Swiss nonprofit organization The Earth Foundation, founded by Peter McGarry and directed by Angela McCarthy, who is CEO.[8]
2024 award winners and finalists
The Earth Prize 2024 Awards
Winner: Team FloodGate (North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, USA), for "a flood prediction and warning technology to protect communities worldwide".[9]
Runner-up 1: Team CocoMellow (i-IVY, Vietnam), for "their design for eco-diapers made from coconut coir and banana fiber".[9][10]
Runner-up 2: Team Ceres (Diyarbakır Bahçeşehir College Science and Technology High School, Türkiye), for "a system that leverages plasma technology to enhance seed germination and plant health, combating environmental stressors to increase crop yield sustainably and reduce reliance on chemical fertilizers".[9][11]
Runner-up 3: Team Pebble (Eton College, United Kingdom), for "a system that hamesses idle GPUs to create a shared computing network, optimizing resource use, reducing carbon emissions, and democratizing access to high-powered computing while promoting environmental sustainability in the tech industry".[9][12]
The Earth Prize Educator of the Year: Aashna Saraf, Founder and CEO of CreatED, an innovation hub in Mumbai, India.
The Earth Prize Mentor of the Year: Elham Ashrafizadeh (University of Toronto, Canada), Francisca Majala Mwaila (Kenyatta University, Kenya), and Yoong Sze Yeong (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore).
2023 Award Winners and Finalists
Team Delavo, a group of four teenage girls from Diyarbakır Bahçeşehir College Science and Technology High School in Turkey secured the top position as winners of the second edition of The Earth Prize on April 25th, 2023 for their “e-Caundry” invention, a filtration device that can be installed in washing machines to recycle approximately 8,200 liters of
wastewater per year.[13][14]
The Earth Prize 2023 Awards
Winner: Team Delavo (Diyarbakır Bahçeşehir College Science and Technology High School, Turkey), for their washing machine filtration device that allows for the recycling of laundry wastewater.
Runner-up 1: Runner-up 1: Team AgriVision (Polytechnic School, USA), for a hyperspectral imagery system to measure agricultural plant health during early, treatable stages.[15]
Runner-up 2: Team AgriPod (Leicester Grammar School, United Kingdom), for a high-tech advisory system that can reduce fertilizer waste in farming.[16]
Runner-up 3: Team Bactoplastics (Winchester College, United Kingdom), for a new cost-effective method of producing PHA plastic to substitute petroleum-based plastics for packaging.[17]
The Earth Prize Educator of the Year: Kathy Dada from Collège des Sœurs des Saints Cœurs Ain Najm in Lebanon.[18]
The Earth Prize Mentor of the Year: Pierfrancesco Merico (St. Gallen University, Switzerland), Stephen Okoth (Oberlin College, USA) and Chloe Luzar (Macquarie University, Australia).[19]
2022 Award Winners and Finalists
In the 2022 edition of The Earth Prize, ten teams of teenage students from Armenia, Great Britain, Vietnam, Switzerland, Taiwan, Canada, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Jamaica, and Kenya advanced to the final phase of the competition, including students from Eton College (Great Britain).[20][21][22][23][24]
The Earth Prize 2022 Awards Ceremony took place virtually on March 25, 2022.[4] Team Adorbsies, a team of three teenage girls from Vietnam who proposed the idea for a biodegradable sanitary pad made out of dragon fruit waste, was announced as the first-ever winner of the competition.[25]
The Earth Prize 2022 Awards
Winner: Team Adorbsies (Summit Education, Vietnam), for a biodegradable sanitary pad made out of dragon fruit peels.[25][26][27][28]
Runner-up 1: Team Big GEMS (GEMS Academy, Taiwan), for a filtering kit that uses enzymes to degrade dye wastewater produced by the textile industry.[28]
Runner-up 2: Team CIECO (Chadwick International School, South Korea), for a reusable cup circulation system that replaced plastic cups at their school.[29]
Runner-up 3: Team Viridis (Campion College, Jamaica), for a mobile app that helps fight food waste from supermarkets.[30]
The Earth Prize Educator of the Year: Safa’ Obeid from Sweileh Preparatory Coeducational School (UNRWA) in Amman, Jordan.[31][32]
The Earth Prize Mentor of the Year: Annamaria Szelics, student at the University of Glasgow.[7]
