Young innovators lead the way in climate solutions

With unhygienic public toilets being a major problem in Dhaka, three young women have come up with an innovative solution to protect users, especially women, from health hazards such as infection transmission.

The team, named Neo Kagoj, has produced a tissue-paper-like product made from recycled paper, which can be used in public toilets and safely flushed afterwards due to its high water absorbency.

They have named the product "Hygie Guard".

For this idea, Neo Kagoj has won the top prize at the grand finale of the Climate Justice Idea Competition 2025, an initiative of The Daily Star and ActionAid Bangladesh.

The finale was held at The Daily Star Centre yesterday, where nine youth teams presented their ideas to address the impacts of climate change, protect the environment, and improve lives.

The ideas included transforming waste into energy and purifying contaminated water in adverse situations such as salinity or floods.

The nine teams competed in three categories -- Green Business, Water Rights, and Energy Transition.

Neo Kagoj won the top prize in the Green Business category.

Team Sustyre won the first runner-up prize in the same category for the idea of producing recyclable footwear soles from waste tyres to reduce wastage, while Econappy became second runner-up for innovating biodegradable, pocket-friendly baby diapers.

In the Water Rights category, Projonmo bagged the top prize for developing an affordable water purifier. Aqua Rights was first runner-up for presenting the idea of a solar-powered filtration machine to mitigate freshwater scarcity in coastal areas affected by salinity, and Ecohydra became second runner-up with their idea of a portable water purifier.

In the Energy Transition category, team Enermical won the top prize for its idea of producing a "hybrid fuel" by blending a liquid substance extracted from plastic waste with diesel. Team Sonali Urja was first runner-up for an app-based system to collect farm waste from farmers to produce electricity, while Trendsetters became second runner-up for their idea of generating electricity from Dhaka's garbage using solar power.

Speaking at the event, Farah Kabir, country director of ActionAid Bangladesh, urged the corporate sector to come forward and implement the amazing ideas.

While climate change has been affecting countries all across the globe, funding to mitigate the challenges remains inadequate, she said.

In his speech, The Daily Star Editor and Publisher Mahfuz Anam said there is no way for Bangladesh to progress without innovation.

He said while climate change is a massive global challenge, Bangladesh has also been facing numerous other problems like high population and limited land.

Besides, inefficiency is a major problem, which is like a "disease", he added.

Lauding the young participants for their innovative ideas and solutions to different issues, he said The Daily Star will continue to promote and support these ideas to help turn them into reality. "Even if one, two, or three of these ideas succeed, they can bring a huge change," he added.

The finale marked the conclusion of the fourth edition of the Climate Justice Idea Competition, which was launched in 2022 under the campaign "Our Planet, Our Responsibility".

This year, the competition received 271 ideas across the three categories.

Following a rigorous selection process, a panel of six selectors shortlisted nine finalist teams, who then received mentorship from experts before presenting their ideas at the grand finale.