PBS Crowns Environmental 12-Year-old Trash To Treasure Winner
Filed under: contests, green and famous, television — Michael Parrish DuDell @ 12:11 pm
December 8th 2008
Good news for tweens everywhere! 12-year-old eco superstar Max Wallack was recently named the winner of Design Squad’s Trash to Treasure competition — a contest that inspired kids to repurpose trash into practical inventions.
So just what was the brilliant idea Max came up with? Wallack invented a “Home Dome,” a structure made of plastic bags filled with Styrofoam packing peanuts, designed to serve as a temporary shelter for homeless people and disaster victims. It also would help relieve landfill growth. Max was awarded a $10,000 prize provided by the Intel Foundation, but said: “I don’t really care about the money. I care about helping people.”
This isn’t the first big win for Wallack either! “When I was six,” Max said, “I won an invention contest that included a trip to Chicago. While there, I saw homeless people living on streets, and beneath highways and underpasses. I felt very sorry for these people, and ever since then, felt that my goal and obligation was to find a way to help them. My invention improves the living conditions for homeless people, refugees, or disaster victims by giving them easy-to-assemble shelter.”
From all of us here at the Razz, a big high-five to Max Wallack for setting such a wonderful example! We look forward to seeing what this groovy green guy has in store for the world next!
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Tagged: max wallack
What a cute kid and a great idea. I love that he said that the money didn’t matter but helping people did. His parents should be proud.
Perhaps if he doesn’t care about the money, he’ll donate it to a homeless shelter or a Hurricane Katrina victim.