International Children's Peace Prize 2021 is won by two Indian teenage brothers
This year’s International Children’s Peace Prize has been awarded to two Indian teenage brothers for their contribution in tackling pollution from household waste. Their initiative, known as ‘One Step Greener’, is a project that segregates recyclable wastes from unrecyclable garbage and arranges separate pickups from thousands of residences in and around their home city, New Delhi.
The two siblings, Vihaan and Nav Agarwal received their accolades from two notable Nobel Peace laureates, Indian children right’s activist Kailash Satyarthi and Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai. Both of whom had jointly won their own honours, back in 2014.
International Children’s Peace Prize is organized every year by a Dutch-based foundation called KidsRights in the famous Dutch city called Hague. The winners receive grants for their education and 100,000 euros for their projects.
Inspiration behind the ‘One Step Greener’ project
International Children’s Peace Prize 2021 awardees Vihaan and Nav Agarwal, 7 and 14 years respectively, have been residents of Delhi since their birth. This has been detrimental to their health due to the NCR’s high levels of pollution.
Vihaan, who suffers from respiratory disorder asthma, was worse affected due to the degrading air quality of the city. As a result, he and his brother were not allowed to play outdoors and that started affecting their mental health as well.
To make matters worse, in 2017, the Ghazipur landfill site collapsed, claiming two lives and resulting in spiking the pollution. This was the turning point for them, as they decided to draw inspiration from this and bring about a significant change for themselves and their fellow citizens. This is how “One Step Greener” initiative was born as these brothers undertook the project to gradually mitigate pollution. Their main idea was not to turn their household waste into fodders for fire.
Once their initiative was in progress, they also found inspiration in the words and actions of British naturalist David Attenborough and conservationist Jane Goodall, both of whom motivated them to go on with their noble project through virtual interactions. The brothers have also acknowledged the inspiration that they derived from their grandparents.
The efforts behind this initiative
In late 2017, the siblings started this venture at home by separating recyclable garbage from the non-recyclable ones with their own hands. Within a few weeks, the trash turned into a heap, which is when their grandfather demanded that either the rubbish leaves their house or they do.
But the boys knew that even this heap of garbage was too insignificant to bring about a change. This is when they created a WhatsApp group, inviting neighbours, friends and even strangers to come forward and make a difference. It started with 15 homes in 2018 and has now reached over 1500 homes including several schools and offices in the city. This is how a household project turned into something so big and worthwhile.
What’s the next step for “One Step Greener” creators?
The Agarwal brothers believe that everyone in our society is capable of doing good, they just need a push, like it happened with them and believe that it is only through collective efforts that pollution can be tackled. They believe in action more than preachy words and considers climate change to be a serious concern.
For now, this initiative is limited to Delhi and a neighbouring town but according to our young winners, they will soon expand it to Kolkata, where many citizens have shown serious interest.
The brothers have also taken to social media to talk about their campaign and have so far educated over 50,000 young individuals about recycling ang its benefits, in both Hindi and English.