A Scots schoolboy met Prince William at Windsor Castle after winning the Blue Peter Earthshot competition, which saw young environmentalists submit sustainability-focused ideas. Llewyn from Glasgow won the Earthshot Prize after creating innovative compostable glasses.
He was awarded a certificate from Prince William at a a special reception held at Windsor Castle. The nine-year-old also presented his idea at the Speaker’s House in the House of Commons, in front of members of a cross-party environmental committee.
The youngster was among five other winners, including Marni, eight, from London, who came up with a “family forests” idea where a tree is planted for every person in the UK, Mia, eight, from North Yorkshire, who proposed cleaning polluted water using algae ponds and 10-year-old Ruby, from Devon, whose idea was to reduce waste with solar-powered vans.
The BBC competition invited children, aged five to 15, to submit an original proposal aiming to achieve one of the five goals set out by William’s Earthshot Prize – Protect And Restore Nature; Clean Our Air, Revive Our Oceans; Build A Waste-Free World; and Fix Our Climate.
The prince founded the Earthshot Prize environmental award in 2020 with a 10-year mission to find ways to protect and repair the environment with innovative solutions.
House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: “I was absolutely thrilled to meet the Blue Peter Earthshot competition winners and to hear their imaginative and innovative ideas to help protect the planet.
“The thought that had gone into their ideas, and the enthusiasm with which they discussed them with us was genuinely exciting.”
Blue Peter said it received almost 2,000 entries from across the UK. The ideas will be celebrated on the show at 5pm on Friday on CBBC and BBC iPlayer.