Kristal Ambrose & Gintanjali Rao use youth to innovate water conservation

Two young innovators fight for clean water sources

The very first Earth Day in April 1970 was a way to bring to national attention the importance of protecting the environment. The goal still remains.

Today, we highlight business owners who are making a difference. Meteorologist Felicia Combs of The Weather Channel takes a look.

A transcript of the video above:

Gintanjali Rao: How many of us are absolutely sure the water we’re drinking is safe and contaminant free?

Felicia Combs (voiceover): Gitanjali Rao isn’t your typical teenager.

Rao: I actually started inventing, coming up with ideas in second grade, but created my first only feasible prototype when I was in sixth grade. This is why I created the ‘Tethys’, which detects less and drinking water faster and cheaper than current methods out there today.

Combs: From clean drinking water to clean oceans.

Kristal Ambrose: We are here to celebrate our beautiful ocean!

Combs: Kristal Ambrose founded the Bahamas Plastic Movement.

Ambrose: The Bahamas Plastic Movement is the grassiest grassroots organization you ever come across. We are an environmental organization geared towards raising awareness and finding solutions to plastic pollution. And we do this through research, education, citizen science and policy change. And we use youth as our our secret weapon. I started this because I saw the firsthand impacts that plastic was having to the ocean. My passion for myself is that I get to continue doing this work at a level that is meaningful and impactful and still joy filled.

Combs: Rao has a similar passion.

Rao: I love learning about how science and technology can help people anywhere, whether that’s a small group of people or a large group of people.

Combs: This author and first ever Time Magazine “Kid of the Year” is now a senior in high school and is as dedicated as ever to innovate and educate.

Rao: I found my passion and they stuck with it. And the biggest thing is other kids. While they do find their passion in solving problems, they don’t know where to go with it. So hopefully my workshops and my book is able to give them that moving on point. Right now, innovation is not an option, it’s a necessity and hopefully we’re working towards that.

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