![]() ![]() Over the span of six months in 2019, when she was just 12 years old, she designed a cart that had solar panels to power a steam iron. Instead of using charcoal to heat up the irons, the vendors could use something abundantly available in India: the power of the sun. Producing and burning charcoal emits particulate matter that pollutes the air and releases greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which contributes to climate change. "It made me think about the amount of charcoal burnt every day and the damage it does to the environment," says the 15-year-old. She started thinking about how this was happening across India, where the ironing vendor is a fixture. Umashankar counted at least six such vendors in her neighborhood in the temple town of Tiruvannamalai alone. ![]() He was an ironing vendor who pressed people's clothes for a living – and his main appliance was an old-fashioned iron box, which he filled with hot charcoal that emitted a cloud of smoke. Vinisha Umashankar was returning to her home in southern India from school a few years ago when she saw a man throwing away burnt charcoal on the side of the street. Now she's in Glasgow, Scotland, to speak at the COP26 climate change conference. She came up with the idea when she was 12 - then worked with engineers to create a prototype. Vinisha Umashankar and her solar ironing cart. ![]()
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