Tamil Nadu teenager makes a splash at COP26 climate meet with her Solar Ironing Cart

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A 15-year-old girl from Tamil Nadu, who was recognized as Earth Day Network Rising Star 2021 (USA) for her ‘Solar Ironing Cart,’ has exhorted the world to move towards clean energy during the recently concluded COP 26 meet on  climate change.</p>
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Vinisha Umashankar, a class 10 student from Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu who received the Dr APJ Abdul Kalam IGNITE award in India for her mobile ironing cart, which uses solar panels to power a steam iron box.<img alt="" src="https://www.indianarrative.com/upload/news/ezgif.com-gif-maker.png" style="width: 100%; height: 100%;" /></p>
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She is now an inspiration for the world with her speech at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (31st Oct – 12th Nov) at Glasgow, Scotland.</p>
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“I am not here to speak about the future, I am the future,” she said encouraging the world to move towards renewable energy and accelerating the journey which started with the innovation in 2019.</p>
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The prototype of Vinisha’s mobile ironing cart which uses solar panels to power a steam iron box has been developed by National Innovation Foundation (NIF) – India in the year 2019.</p>
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A key benefit of the solar ironing cart is that it eliminates the need for coal for ironing bringing about a welcome shift towards clean energy. End users can move around and offer services at doorstep for increasing their daily earning. The ironing cart can also be fitted with a coin-operated GSM PCO, USB charging points and mobile recharging which can fetch extra income, according to information provided by the Ministry of Science.</p>
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It is an ingenious solar-powered alternative for the millions of charcoal burning ironing carts for pressing clothes and can benefit the workers and their families. The device can also be powered by pre-charged batteries, electricity or diesel-powered generator in the absence of sunlight, the ministry’s statement said.</p>
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Vinisha’s efforts have made India stand out as a country which brings innovative solutions for the climate change problem.</p>
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Prominent world leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, US President Joe Biden, Prince William, founder of The Earthshot Prize; Mr. John Kerry, the Special Presidential Envoy for Climate (SPEC) from US, The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and philanthropist Michael Bloomberg were amongst the audience to her speech which is attracting a global appreciation.</p>