Teniera, 15, Vanuatu - Climate change is affecting nowhere on earth more seriously than in the South Pacific, where rising sea levels and increased storms are slowly drowning our small islands. In our coastal village, we have already noticed the impact of sea level rise because our underground wells are mixing with sea water. We have learned to adapt though, using the brackish water to cook and wash clothes, and using rain for drinking.

But there is one problem we cannot adapt to: sewage from villager’s pit toilets leeching into the wells. When this happens we have to cut down more and more forest to move away from the polluted areas, forest that would otherwise be reducing green house gasses.

To solve the problem, we would like to design and build a composting toilet for the village that keeps our waste out of the water. This will be the first ever composting toilet on our small island, an idea that might be taken up by other villages (built by us) and have a huge impact on the environment. Most importantly, the compost generated by the village toilet will be used to fertilize a climate garden that we will plant with carbon capturing rainforest trees.

Our group: Joe, Teiera, Kaltang, and Joseph