As a student, Tejas Kannan (16 | Missouri City, Texas) learned about the “3 Rs”: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and how reducing what we buy, reusing items for new purposes, and recycling items when they can no longer be used can positively impact the environment. One day while reading about Bellandur Lake—a large body of water near his hometown of Bengaluru, India—Tejas was unsettled by what he learned. Bellandur Lake, which was a major source of water for drinking and agriculture, is now incredibly polluted due to untreated sewage water and dumping of chemicals and industrial waste from nearby factories. Recognizing the devastating impact chemical pollution has on those who relied on Bellandur Lake, the general dangers of chemical pollution, and how environmental stewardship is not exclusive to one community, Tejas created Product Insight.

Product Insight is an online platform where Tejas educates both youth and adults about chemicals, especially those used in the production of plastics, as the material has become integral for people around the world. In his platform, Tejas shares the results of his extensive research into over 200 toxic and nontoxic chemicals that exist in products we use daily including carrageenan, a seaweed derived nontoxic compound that’s used as a thickener in ice cream and toothpaste, and lead, which has been linked to water crises in Flint, Chicago, and Newark. His site also features blogs, news articles, and podcast episodes that provide additional information while exploring strategies that are easy for anyone to implement. Wanting to make taking action accessible to all, Tejas even created workbooks and activity sheets that can be used by schools and individuals to teach the “3 Rs” through text, games, and hands-on activities. These workbooks have already been distributed to over 3000 students in India and Tejas is collaborating with the Fort Bend Independent School District on ways they schools may be able to incorporate his work into their curriculum.