Earlier this year, we wrote about the Annual Earthshot Prize Award and its categories. It’s time to follow up and see who the five winners of the prizes are! We were blown out of the water by the bold, innovative solutions these remarkable humans created to help stop and reverse global climate change. Let’s raise our glasses to their creations as we get to know a bit more about each of the prize winners.
Protect and Restore Nature: The winner for this category, which focuses on growing the natural world, is the Indian startup company Kheyeti. Their Greenhouse-in-a-Box is designed to help small-hold farmers eliminate the effects of extreme weather and pests on their crops. Already, more than 1,000 Kenyan farms have a Kheyti Greenhouse-in-a-Box and have seen amazing results. Even though plants inside the greenhouse require less water and fewer pesticides, crop yields are up to seven-times higher, more than doubling farmers’ incomes.
Clean Our Air: The invention that claimed the prize for this category, which works toward guaranteeing everyone in the world breathes healthy air, is Mukuru Clean Stoves. These genius stoves run off a processed biomass made from charcoal, wood and sugarcane that burns cleaner than traditional charcoal. Currently 20,00 people in Kenya use Mukuru Clean Stoves, lowering the country’s fuel costs by $10 million, reducing the hours women spend every day collecting firewood thus empowering female-owned and staffed business.
Revive our Oceans: Working to return oceans to their vibrant health, the Queensland Indigenous Women Rangers seek to fuse ancient knowledge with modern technology to heal our seas, starting with the Great Barrier Reef. The program has trained over 60 women to work as rangers or in other conservation fields around the Queensland area, where the Great Barrier reef is located.
Build a Waste-Free World: Notpla, a London-based startup, takes the cake for creating something that will help transform the planet into a place where nothing goes to waste. Notpla is a remarkable plastic replacement made from a completely biodegradable and natural material – seaweed! Not only does the company work towards eliminating waste, but their seaweed farm also boosts fish populations and provides new opportunities for fishing communities.
Fix our Climate: One of the most essential parts of combating Climate Change is efficient removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. 44.01 discovered a remarkable way to do just that – by turning C02 into rock! The company’s goal is to mineralize 1,000 tons of C02 every year until 2024. 44.01 is also providing new employment opportunities to engineers and geologists as the world shifts to cleaner forms of energy.
We here at Apollo Mapping are awed by and grateful for the ingenuity, dedication and compassion shown by the Earthshot prize winners in their quest towards sustainability. It’s people and ideas like these that could help usher our globe back into a sustainable and flourishing existence.
Katie Nelson
Geospatial Ninja
(303) 718-7163
katie@apollomapping.com
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