New Jersey Youth Wins National Award for Heroic Service Activity

Boulder, CO, September 20, 2022 – Sri Nihal Tammana, age 13, of Edison, New Jersey, has been named a winner of the 2022 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. The Barron Prize annually honors 25 outstanding young leaders who have made a significant positive impact on people, their communities, and the environment. Fifteen top winners each receive $10,000 to support their service work or higher education.

Nihal founded Recycle My Battery to promote and facilitate the recycling of used batteries. His nonprofit installs free battery recycling bins and educates young people and adults about battery recycling. In just three years he has built a team of 250+ student volunteers across the globe who have recycled nearly 200,000 batteries and educated millions of people. Nihal learned at age 10 that 15 billion batteries are thrown away each year and that most end up in landfills where they pollute groundwater, harm the ecosystem, and can cause catastrophic fires. Inspired to tackle the problem, he began collecting used batteries from his community. He deposited them in free recycling bins at stores like Staples until he was told he was bringing too many and had to stop.

Undeterred, he reached out for help from Call2Recycle, the largest battery recycling nonprofit in North America. Call2Recycle agreed to provide recycling bins and handle the recycling logistics for free, with Recycle My Battery placing bins in schools, libraries, and other public places. Nihal next approached his school district’s superintendent for permission to place battery bins in the district’s 19 schools. Given the go-ahead, he began recruiting other school kids to help him distribute bins. Nihal’s organization now operates across the U.S. and is expanding to other countries including Canada, Switzerland, and India. “Earth gives us so much – oxygen, food, water – everything! – so it’s important that we give something back when we can,” says Nihal. “I always say, ‘If I can make Earth a better place to live, you can! If you can make Earth a better place to live, we all can!’”

The Barron Prize was founded in 2001 by author T. A. Barron and was named for his mother, Gloria Barron. Since then, the Prize has honored more than 500 young people who reflect the great diversity of America. All of them demonstrate heroic qualities like courage, compassion, and perseverance as they work to help their communities or protect the planet.

“Nothing is more inspiring than stories about heroic people who have truly made a difference to the world,” says T. A. Barron. “And we need our heroes today more than ever. Not celebrities, but heroes – people whose character can inspire us all. That is the purpose of the Barron Prize: to shine the spotlight on these amazing young people so that their stories will inspire others.”

For more information, visit www.barronprize.org