Bricks of hope

Teenage sisters from heavily bombed Gaza have won the United Nations regional Champions of the Earth Prize for turning rubble into eco-friendly bricks and have entered the competition for the global award. The first-ever Palestinian winners, Tala, 17, and Farah, 15, were driven to act by the devastation viewed from their tent. Since their home was destroyed in August last year, they have been displaced five times. Tala said she and her sister are “incredibly proud and grateful” for the award which not only recognises their efforts but also provides them with $12,500 which they will invest in training others and developing their low-tech, cheap method of reducing rubble in Gaza.

“Being selected as Middle East winners isn’t just an achievement for us, but a message of hope from Gaza to the world that even in the hardest circumstances we are still capable of innovation and creating solutions,” she told Emirati daily newspaper. “We are very optimistic about the wider adoption of our method because it’s simple, low-cost and adaptable, especially in conflict and disaster zones,” she added.

Farah said since the family has been living in “difficult conditions” she thought their project attracted the attention of the judges “because it comes from real, lived experience and is practical and scalable. It doesn’t just address an environmental issue but also empowers communities and supports sustainable rebuilding,” she added. “Over the next year we hope the knowledge will spread among new communities, with more workshops, more blocks being produced, and wider adoption of the idea. We have a big passion for this.”

This involves collecting rubble, using a simple machine to crush large pieces, and making bricks and breezeblocks for reconstruction. The UN reports that 90 per cent of Gaza’s homes and 70-80 per cent of its schools, hospitals and infrastructure have been damaged or destroyed, leaving 61 to 68 million tonnes of rubble which could take seven years to clear, the UN Development Programme has reported.

Prevented from attending school by Israeli attacks on Gaza, the sisters have studied online with the West Bank-based Palestinian Ministry of Education and use books they have been able to find in deprived Gaza. “It’s really hard,” Tala said. “We just study the curriculum by ourselves and get the exams from them.”

The Earth Prize is awarded by The Earth Foundation, a Geneva-based non-profit organisation which over the last five years has chosen annually seven regional recipients among students aged 13-19. This year there were 6,095 competitors, which were narrowed down to 35 located in Oceania & Southeast Asia, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, Central and South America, and North America.

Ireland’s India-born student Arya Satheesh, 18, has been named European winner for Eco Purge, a biodegradable plastic which breaks down discarded everyday plastic particles polluting the soil, freshwater lakes and rivers, and the sea. She set up this project while still at school, and has cooperated with researchers at University College, Dublin, and other centres.

India’s Vivaan Chhawchharia, Ariana Agarwal, and Avyana Mehta, all 16, are the Asia winners of The Earth Prize 2026. Their invention, dubbed PlasStic, deals with microplastics in drinking water: “We make a special powder from discarded tamarind seeds that acts like a magnet for these microplastics. When mixed into a container of water, the microplastics stick together into little clumps. We pull these clumps out with a magnet, leaving cleaner water behind. The collected microplastics are safely turned into small useful items like tiles or coasters so it can’t return to nature. This simple method helps protect people, animals, and our planet from invisible plastic pollution.”

The Oceania and Southeast Asia award is “Homes for Hornbills” founded by Thailand’s Yanin (Proud) Tangkaravakoon. A junior at Choate Rosemary Hall high school, she is committed to environmental conservation. Hornbills are large birds that scatter seeds which grow forests and greenery. They do not build nests, but they raise their young in holes in large trees. Since trees are being cut down at an increasing rate and hornbills are threatened by poachers, the organisation creates new ways to provide income for communities and educates students to become conservationists.

The North American winner is Puerto Rico’s Helena do Rego for SargaTex which transforms her country’s smelly sargassum seaweed into eco-friendly, biodegradable material for clothing and footwear. She explained, “Most fabric is made from plastic, which is bad for the ocean and never goes away. But my Sargassum fabric is different: when you’re done with it, it melts back into the earth and doesn’t hurt any animals or fish. I’m trying to show that we can make soft, strong fabric from the sea to help keep our planet clean, healthy and plastic-free!”

South American Brazilians Bernardo Renner and Ísis Valentim are students who launched a sustainable biocurative project called “Hada,” consisting of biodegradable plant-based bandages made with aloe vera and chamomile that can replace plastic bandages.

Central American Orby teens is a team of innovative students from Panama who developed an AI-powered recycling bin designed to automatically sort waste and reward users.

African winners 17-year-old Fredrick Njoroge Kariuki and Miron Onsarigo from Kenya built a filter using natural materials for eliminating pollutants from the air. Four other prize winners will be announced over the coming days.

Website voting for the global winner opened on April 18. The 2026 Earth Prize Awards Ceremony is set for May 29, when the global winner of the youth environmental sustainability competition will be announced.