PGC Finalists conceive, develop, and implement innovative, feasible, high-impact Climate Action Projects across a variety of themes, in partnership with Turning Green, mentors, ambassadors, teams, friends, advisors, teachers, administrators, and community members. CAPs take a solutions-based approach to a real world challenge on campuses and in communities. Following five months of hard work (between the November PGC Finals and the April CAP presentations), students present before a panel of judges on the measurable impact of completed CAPs, as well as what comes next on their activism journeys. Here are the PGC 2024 Finalists’ Climate Action Projects:
Anjali Doria, Food Forest
Anjali’s CAP focuses on creating a food forest at a local medical center in Manchester, Tennessee to address food insecurity and promote soil health through regenerative agriculture. The medical center’s location would provide accessible fresh food options for those without transportation. With community support, Anjali is confident this collaborative effort will be a success in her close-knit community.
Bárbara Villanueva, Team Eco Rise, Clean Water Yucatán
Bárbara and Team Eco Rise are focused on addressing water scarcity and waste management in their community in Yucatán. Their CAP involves installing rainwater harvest and filtering systems in homes and community spaces to provide reliable access to clean water. They hope their project will create a model for other rural communities to follow.
Callyan Lacio, Voices of Science
Callyan’s CAP aims to empower Indigenous students by bridging cultural knowledge with scientific practices. The project focuses on creating tribal STEM camp modules that foster a sense of identity and challenge stereotypes about scientists. Through discussions, personal narratives from Indigenous scientists, and hands-on experiences, students will explore scientific inquiry grounded in their cultural heritage.
Césaire Kouadio, Circular Solutions Hub
Césaire’s CAP focuses on establishing a circular economy marketplace and repair facility in his community to promote sustainable consumption and waste reduction. By collaborating with repair experts and local stakeholders, Césaire aims to create a supportive environment for eco-friendly practices. Through community education on sustainable living, he hopes to extend product lifespans and foster a stronger sense of responsibility in everyday choices.
Godfred Owusu, Kumasi Waste Free
Godfred’s CAP addresses waste management in Kumasi, Ghana, where increasing waste generation and inadequate disposal systems threaten community health and the environment. Through sustainable waste practices, community education, and teaching product creation from recycled materials, the project aims to minimize waste and foster sustainable habits. Godfred envisions a cleaner, healthier, future for Kumasi residents.
Jack Yu, Team Penguin, Polar Bear and Turtle, CarbonTrack Platform
Jack and Team Penguin, Polar Bear, and Turtle are driving changes with their CarbonTrack initiative, encouraging sustainable habits through a personal carbon-footprint accounting platform where users log daily carbon-saving actions, like minimizing food waste. The platform calculates the CO2 emissions saved by each action, converting them into Carbon Credits for leaderboard rankings or rewards. Their CAP uses this positive feedback loop to inspire eco-friendly habits and promote youth eco-education across communities and schools.
Janet Herrera Hualpa, Team Green World, Waves Without Waste
Janet and Team Green World are addressing plastic pollution in Perú’s oceans through education and advocacy. Their CAP involves studying coastal areas, creating educational materials on the impact of plastic, and organizing school workshops on microplastics and sustainable alternatives. They also plan to launch a social media campaign to encourage sustainable behaviors.
Kylie Chalise, Team Sustainable Souls, Sustain and Sprout
Kylie and Team Sustainable Souls want to lead an initiative which transforms community food scraps into compost to enrich local garden soil. They will design and monitor compost bins to track waste diversion. Through workshops and social media outreach, the CAP aims to foster a culture of environmental responsibility and showcase the positive impact of composting on soil and air quality.
Mahmudur Rahman, Project AquaRevive
Mahmudur’s CAP addresses the intensifying water salinity crisis in Bangladesh’s coastal areas, largely driven by shrimp aquaculture. The core mission of his CAP is to raise awareness, promote sustainable solutions, and advocate for coastal restoration to protect both environmental and community health. Mahmudur envisions a collaborative future, including educating farmers on eco-friendly techniques and creating guides to support sustainable practices.
Marria Peduto, Cook From the Cupboard
Marria’s CAP tackles household food waste by raising awareness and promoting sustainable habits among college-aged individuals in the US. Through a social media campaign and cooking workshops, the CAP aims to inspire teens and young adults to adopt small daily actions that reduce waste. Marria’s goal is to foster a culture of sustainability, empowering individuals to make lasting, responsible choices around food.
Megan Garber, Project Fresh Start
Megan’s CAP is an educational program designed to empower at-risk youth by teaching them to use their families SNAP benefits effectively for FLOSN ingredients. The program will address food insecurity, food waste, and ingredient repurposing, equipping students with lifelong skills to manage and understand their food choices. By fostering stronger and healthier relationships with food, Megan aims to break cycles of food insecurity.
Mila Shih, A Fruitful Future
Mila’s CAP seeks to alleviate the urban heat island effect, greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, and food waste in San Luis Obispo, California through a citywide fruit tree-planting initiative. By planting trees, she intends to reduce local temperatures, improve air quality, and provide fresh produce. Mila also plans to donate excess fruit to local food banks and establish compost bins and educational resources at her high school.
Parmin Masoumi, Grounds to Growth
Parmin’s CAP will focus on the vibrant coffee culture in Gonbad-e Kavus, specifically in transforming discarded coffee grounds into organic fertilizer. By partnering with coffee shops, the initiative will collect used grounds, process them into high-quality fertilizer, and sell that to local farmers. The profits will be shared with participating coffee shops to incentivize participation.
Sarah Q, Style Cycle
Sarah’s CAP plans to reduce the environmental impacts of fast fashion by establishing a swap shop at her school. Students will donate clothes they no longer wear and find new items at the shop. Clothing donations will be periodically made to local shelters. Through surveys, social media, and posters, Sarah hopes to inspire sustainable fashion choices and create a model that can be easily replicated across other schools.
