Thailand Teen Builds Hornbill Nests From Plastic

Why this is here: Fourteen hornbill chicks successfully fledged in 2025 from the twenty artificial nests Proud installed in southern Thailand, showing early success for the project.

Yanin Tangkaravakoon, a 17-year-old from Thailand, is building artificial nests for hornbills to combat habitat loss. She observed declining hornbill populations during a school trip and partnered with the Thailand Hornbill Research Foundation.

Proud’s “Homes for Hornbills” project constructs nests from upcycled plastic bottles and includes conservation education programs. Twenty nests are installed and fourteen chicks successfully fledged in 2025.

Helena do Rego, 17, in Puerto Rico is turning sargassum seaweed into a biodegradable biofabric. She addresses both beach pollution and landfill capacity, which is at 85 percent.

The material, SargaTex PR, creates flip-flops and spa products and breaks down quickly. In Brazil, Bernardo Renner and Ísís Valentin developed HADA, a biodegradable bandage made from aloe and chamomile.

The team estimates 2.2 billion plastic bandages were discarded in 2023. Further research is needed to determine long-term durability and widespread adoption of these solutions. The Earth Prize competition has supported over 21,000 students in 169 countries since 2019 and continues to grow.