Stories
Meet the 11-Year-Old Environmentalist Leading a Global Water Conservation Movement
M
Moneycontrol•15-10-2026, 15:01
Meet the 11-Year-Old Environmentalist Leading a Global Water Conservation Movement
- •Eleven-year-old Nithya Tammana from New Jersey founded Save Drop, a youth-led network of over 450 young environmentalists known as Water Warriors.
- •She launched the #ServeHalfGlass campaign to encourage restaurants to serve smaller initial pours, potentially saving billions of gallons of water annually.
- •Nithya developed BioLayer, an open-source, moss-based filter designed to remove up to 95 percent of lead from school drinking water for under 38 dollars.
- •Her impressive environmental advocacy has earned her national recognition, including the 2026 Eco-Hero award and the New Jersey Governor's Environmental Stewardship Award.
Key Questions Answered
BioLayer is an open-source, plastic-free filter made using living Sphagnum moss designed to remove up to 95% of lead from school drinking water at a cost of less than $38.
The #ServeHalfGlass campaign asks restaurants to serve half a glass of water initially instead of filling it to the brim, offering refills on request to reduce restaurant water waste.
Nithya was named a 2026 Eco-Hero and recipient of the Dr Mary Griffin-Jones Special Award by Action For Nature, received the New Jersey Governor's Environmental Stewardship Award, and won the Mott Million Dollar Challenge.
