UNPOLLUTED

In this episode, The Earth Prize team spoke to Omar Itani, a young social entrepreneur from Beirut, Lebanon. In 2017, and while still a student, Omar co-founded a non-profit called FabricAID with two partners. Their goal is to create a socially and environmentally conscious value-chain for the apparel industry in Lebanon. Among other aspects, FabricAID provides second-hand clothing to marginalized communities at extremely affordable prices.He is a UNEP champion of the Earth Awardee and the winner of numerous competitions including the Global Social Venture Competition in 2018. In his conversation with Komal Zaidi, he spoke about how he found out that Lebanon, a country where about 3 million people cannot afford first-hand clothes, did not have a proper system for collecting and redistributing used clothes. FabricAID has been recognized as one of the fastest-growing social enterprises in the MENA region and it has expanded its work to Jordan and Egypt as well.  

For the second episode, The Earth Prize team spoke to Louise Mabulo, one of the young nine environmental change-makers featured in The Earth Prize exclusive learning content. Louise is an entrepreneur, chef and an environmental activist from the Philippines. In her conversation with Komal Zaidi, she talked about how she initially started The Cacao Project as a relief effort after typhoon Nock-Ten. After realizing the interconnectedness of the entire food system, her relief project evolved into an initiative that empowers farmers in San Fernando, Philippines, to implement climate-smart agriculture techniques so they are better positioned for sustainable success and disaster-resilient livelihoods.

In the first episode, The Earth Prize Team invited their Ambassador Navya Naveli Nanda, founder of Project Naveli and co-founder of Aara Health, and The Earth Prize 2022 winners, Uyen Bui, Dorothy Tran, and Huyen Luong. In their conversation with Angela McCarthy and Komal Zaidi, they discussed their projects' common focus on sustainability and women's health, and youth's commitment to breaking taboos around menstruation in countries as different as Vietnam and India.