Action For Nature is proud to announce their 2013 International Young Eco-Hero Awards, which recognize young people 8 to 16 years old for their environmental achievements. They hope the accomplishments of these outstanding young people will inspire many others to preserve and protect the Earth upon which all life depends. We hope so too!
The winner of the aged 8-12 group was a young man by the name of Milo Cress, age 11, Colorado, USA. Here is his story:
Milo noticed that disposable drinking straws were automatically given out with every drink purchase. Through research, he discovered that in the USA approximately 500 million straws are used and discarded each day – enough to fill more than 127 school buses daily or nearly 46,400 every year. Milo wanted to do something about this needless plastic waste, so he founded the non-profit organization (BSF) to enable youth from around the world to join him in this cause. His goal is to make it standard for straws to be offered to customers rather than served automatically with a drink, and his project has been recognized by The National Restaurant Association as a “best practice.”
The aim of his initiative, Milo explains, is not only to reduce the number of disposable plastic straws that go into landfills, but also to “encourage kids around the world to find and get involved in issues that interest them.” In line with this goal, Milo has developed another project called Kids Create the Future to highlight the environmental projects of youth from around the world. His website for Kids Create the Future, which went live in May 2013, features video submissions from youth describing their initiatives, and helps to raise awareness for their important contributions.
Milo is currently on an International speaking tour which will take him to at least 6 cities in 5 countries, speaking at schools and events held by various organizations. Milo’s speech is called, “The Best Way to Predict the Future is to Help Create It.” As an ardent environmentalist and inventor (he invented a solar-powered popcorn machine at age six, for which he won a Peabody Award), Milo serves as a prime example of his talk’s title, don’t you agree?