Three 16-year-olds made a powder from tamarind seeds that pulls microplastics out of water

Vivaan Chhawchharia, Ariana Agarwal and Avyana Mehta were named Asia winners of the $100K Earth Prize 2026 for 'Plas-Stick' — a cheap biodegradable powder made from waste tamarind seeds that binds invisible plastic particles in drinking water into clumps a handheld magnet can lift out. It was designed for shared water containers in rural communities without advanced filtration.