Conference Empowers 200 Students With Unique Ideas on Climate Change - Mobius F

1. This Conference Empowered 200 Students with Unique Ideas on Climate Change – Mobius Foundation The fifth International Conference on Sustainability Education (ICSE) by the Mobius Foundation saw educators helping students bring their unique eco-friendly ideas to fruition, the birth of a few startups, and over 15 countries coming together for collective action against climate change. Once a woman starts menstruating, she will be bleeding once a month for approximately 35 to 40 years, using approximately 10,000 sanitary napkins during her lifetime, which end up in landfills. The plastic used in these pads is non-biodegradable and can lead to health and environmental hazards. According to Menstrual Health Alliance India, one sanitary pad could take 500 to 800 years to decompose. Recognising this massive problem, a team of students from the Iconic School, Bhopal, started looking for a solution. They decided to make biodegradable sanitary pads with the resources they had in hand through their project BacWP. They used water hyacinth, bagasse and papaya fibre to make sanitary napkins while ensuring menstrual hygiene and proper waste decomposition. They successfully demonstrated that students and young people can use their education to make a positive impact on society. Their project received recognition at the Youth for Earth Campaign 2023 — a platform for young changemakers to showcase their innovations. Conducted by Mobius Foundation in

2. partnership with The Climate Project Foundation, 200 youth groups participated in this campaign. Ten of the best projects —made on the theme ‘United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13: Climate Action’ — were rewarded at the fifth International Conference on Sustainability Education (ICSE). Five of these were awarded in the youth category (schools) and five in the senior category, which included colleges, universities and independent groups.