Endeavoring Entrepreneur Boyan Slat
Boyan Slat was frustrated on a dive in Greece when he saw more plastic bags than fish in the water. Surely, he thought, there must be a way to clean this up. But when he researched ocean pollution for a high school science project, all the clean-up ideas he found were expensive to run, used a lot of fuel, and risked trapping and kill sea life. So he designed his own solution. The design uses floating platforms with solid walls below the surface of the water. Ocean creatures can float or swim under the platforms. Plastic garbage, on the other hand, is trapped behind the walls where it can be collected and recycled.
At age 17, Boyan founded a company, The Ocean Cleanup. His company has successfully tested a small version of the platforms, and proved that they can collect plastic without harming sea life. With help from donations and volunteers, The Ocean Cleanup is now working to bring Boyan’s design to life and take a step toward solving the problem of plastic pollution.
Inspiring Inventor Torrae
At 11 years old, Torrae from Arlington, WA is 3D printing prosthetic hands for people in need with e-NABLE, following her imagination to invent awesomely kooky machines with her dad, and leaving small gratitude gifts all over town with her Pocket Sized Philanthropy. She is an inventor of ideas, kindness, and machines – a very, very special combination. In the last year, she’s taken strides on big stages (as a guest on Ellen and co-speaker with dad on Tedx Talk) to share her message with the rest of us. So on Torrae walks, passing along her endless stack of hammers – igniting us to stay inspired and to keep making. See her photo with the Tinker Crate Bubble Lamp on Instagram!
Constantly Curious Magnus
From Bowdoinham, Maine, Magnus is a wonderful seven-year-old who has been writing to Steve the Kiwi with incredible discipline for over a year. A kid with an insatiable curiosity for the world around him, Magnus hopes to one day take care of baby ocean animals at a big aquarium. And guess what? He can read and follow the directions on the KiwiCo projects all by himself, “only sometimes does my big brother help me.” Thanks for inspiring us Magnus, we know you will never stop being a maker with that super cool curiosity of yours!
Keenly Kindhearted Songbird
Songbird set out to build a leprechaun trap out of an old KiwiCo box (which she repainted) for St. Patrick’s Day, but followed her ingenuity and her heart to build something even better. Mom writes on her Grey House Harbor blog, “After much deliberation, Songbird decided on a rather imaginative course of action. Having seen the leprechauns work their way out of all our traps thus far, she decided to catch them with kindness. She figures that after a long night of hunting for gold, they may be in need of rest. A tiny hotel would be just the place they can kick up their feet and stay awhile – maybe even until morning when she can politely ask for a pot of gold.” Keeping inspiring us to make kindness Songbird, because even when the subject lives in our imaginations, the kindness is very real.
Take a moment to leave these awesome kids a little note of encouragement in the comments. And let us know how these kids have inspired your family! Keep making everyone.
