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, Manchester Food Forest
Anjali’s CAP focuses on creating a food forest at a medical center in Manchester, Tennessee to address food insecurity and restore soil health through regenerative agriculture. Early harvests will provide fresh, organic produce to residents in need. As the forest matures, the goal is to replace Unity Medical Center’s cafeteria offerings and support the Daily Bread food distribution program. Success will be measured not only by food output, but also by soil improvement and community engagement.
Bárbara Villanueva, Team Eco Rise, Lu´um Kuxtal (Earth Life)
Bárbara and Team Eco Rise are focused on addressing water scarcity in Maxcanú, Mexico. Their CAP involves installing a rainwater harvest and filtering system at the local church to provide reliable access to clean water. They will plan future visits to implement workshops to raise awareness, aiming to foster a sense of community and strengthen their relationship and responsibility with 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 and amplify Indigenous voices while highlighting the coexistence of Traditional Ecological Knowledge with contemporary science. Initially focused on creating an education day for the Wampanoag tribe’s Preserving Our Homelands camp, the project has expanded significantly while maintaining its core mission. It now includes monthly meetings between the tribe and external organizations, outreach to integrate the tribe into local community conversations, and the development of a workshop on revitalizing seal subsistence hunting. The ultimate goal is to establish sustainable, community-driven initiatives that the tribe can manage independently, ensuring they have the resources to continue amplifying their voices.
Césaire Kouadio, The Circular Economy Marketplace & Repair Hub
Césaire’s CAP is a sustainability initiative in Mindelo, Cape Verde, envisioned as a permanent hub over the next five years for eco-friendly products made of upcycled or repaired materials. Initially focused on two workshops, the project has expanded to also include artisan engagement, beach cleanups, repair competitions, and one grand workshop. It empowers youth artisans, students, and communities to convert waste into usable products, thereby spurring innovation in upcycling. The initiative is establishing a strong foundation for long-term impact of the circular economy in Cape Verde through networking, community engagement, and fundraising efforts.
Godfred Owusu, Kumasi Waste Free Project
Godfred’s CAP addresses the pervasive problem of plastic waste in Kumasi, Ghana, by creating a sustainable, community-driven recycling model that fosters entrepreneurship, provides employment opportunities, and promotes environmental responsibility. Through the collection, processing, and transformation of plastic waste into valuable products like bins, school desks and reusable bags, it aims to reduce plastic pollution, empower vulnerable populations, and build a more circular and sustainable economy.
Jack Yu, Team Penguin, Polar Bear and Turtle, CarbonTrack
Jack and Team Penguin, Polar Bear, and Turtle have created a youth-led carbon accounting platform designed to promote environmental education and daily green action among teenagers worldwide. Through a website and app, users log eco-friendly behaviors, calculate CO2 emission reductions using authoritative, research-based algorithms, and use the “Carbon Credits” they earn to compete on leaderboards and exchange gifts in the “Credit Mall.” This gamified process incentivizes young users to repeat positive actions consistently until a green lifestyle is formed. To date, 12 high schools worldwide have joined this movement, engaged over 145 active users, and cumulatively saved 158 kg of carbon dioxide emissions.
Janet Herrera Hualpa, Team Green World, Yaku Sumaq
Janet and Team Green World are addressing plastic pollution in Perú’s oceans through an educational and environmental CAP. The project seeks to foster ocean awareness and sustainability through active citizen engagement, with a strong emphasis on developing student-led environmental leadership. Grounded in innovative pedagogical strategies, it empowers young participants to become agents of change within their communities, promoting the protection and sustainable use of marine ecosystems.
Kylie Chalise, Team Sustainable Souls, Sustain and Sprout
Kylie and Team Sustainable Souls have worked to close the loop on food waste through sustainability and community engagement. The system transforms everyday food scraps into compost to nourish plants in a community garden, creating a cycle: scraps to soil, soil to plants, plants to plate, and plate back to scraps. Planted vegetables are used in the school cafeteria or FACS classes to make nutritious meals. Additional workshops on making “seed bombs” to scatter in neglected places and help pollinators and restore ecosystems encourage the school community to rethink waste, take actions for the planet, and embrace sustainable practices that contribute to a healthier, greener world.
Mahmudur Rahman, Project AquaRevive
Mahmudur’s CAP is an initiative to tackle the growing water salinity crisis. The project focuses on mitigating harmful effects of shrimp aquaculture, which contributes significantly to seawater intrusion and salinity, disrupting livelihoods and ecosystems. The aim is to promote eco-friendly shrimp farming practices, alternative livelihoods, and sustainable agriculture solutions.
Marria Peduto, Waste Not, Want Not: A Food Waste Initiative
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 @MarriasKitchen and cooking workshops, the CAP aims to inspire teens and young adults to adopt small daily actions that reduce waste. The goal is to foster a culture of sustainability, empowering individuals to make lasting, responsible choices around food.
Megan Garber, Stone Soup Society
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 aims to bring awareness to the San Luis Obispo community and beyond about urban food forests’ potential to solve a plethora of issues facing metropolitan areas, including air quality, the urban heat island effect, water scarcity, biodiversity, and food insecurity. Work includes in-depth research, outreach to local businesses and organizations, and educating students about the potential of systemic change in how people think about their relationship with water, the environment, and urban spaces as a whole. The results have already been seen in connecting with and encouraging SLO residents to begin converting lawns into food forests.
Parmin Masoumi, Grounds to Growth
Parmin’s CAP focuses 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 is a sustainability and social impact initiative that brings together fashion, environmental awareness, and a sense of community. It was inspired by learning about the extreme impacts of fast fashion and consumerism on our earth through PGC, specifically how the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions, which is 1.2 billion tons annually. A campus Swap Shop allows faculty and staff to donate clothing while also picking out new items! The CAP helps reimagine how fashion is viewed on campus and beyond.
