INTERNATIONAL: Ironing vendors are common across India. Their irons are heated using charcoal, a fuel that contributes to air pollution, but 14-year-old Vinisha Umashankar of Tiruvannamalai in the southernmost state of Tamil Nadu, proves you are never too young to help the environment through innovation. Her solar-powered ironing cart is a clean alternative to the charcoal powered street irons that press clothes for millions of Indians each day.

She has been nominated for an Earthshot Prize, which is Britain’s Prince William’s most prestigious global environment prize in history, designed to incentivise change and help repair the planet over the next ten years.

One day, on the way home from school, Vinisha saw an ironing vendor dumping charcoal in the garbage. Curious, she began researching the impact of charcoal. She saw how smoke causes lung disease among vendors and says she was shocked to learn of the connection between charcoal and deforestation, with industrial quantities of trees felled each year to make it.

Vinisha’s solar powered cart replaces dirty charcoal with clean energy from the sun. Five hours of sunshine powers the iron for six hours – a win for the environment is also a win for vendors. Extra mobility means they can sell on doorsteps as well as the roadside. Passionate about innovation, Vinisha traces her love of science to the encyclopaedia she received on her fifth birthday. It instilled a fascination about how things work – one that intensified as she realised the power of invention to do good.

Vinisha plans to manufacture the solar ironing cart in India and sell it at an affordable price. She wants to export it elsewhere in Asia and also to Africa, wherever the sun shines throughout the year. Vinisha’s example shows that by innovating today, the next generation can create a cleaner tomorrow.