Amira: In Puerto Rico, we import more than 85% of the food that we eat. Even though we have the perfect climate and rich soils, decades of colonization have weakened our local agriculture and caused dependence on imports. The impact of recent hurricanes has made this problem worse. Since the impact of Hurricane Maria in 2017, we have been leading an initiative to reforest Puerto Rico. We have been giving out fruit trees and seeds to families in all 78 municipalities of the islands. Most recently, we are working on creating fruit tree parks where communities will be able to access safe and free food all year long and also be more food secure when another natural disaster happens. 

Tamara: Plastic foam boxes are the go-to packaging solution for temperature-sensitive goods, yet these boxes are always breaking, ending up as small plastic beads that blow out to sea and pollute our oceans. Meanwhile, nature has been keeping coconuts cool for years with tough, insulative husks. But after the coconuts are harvested, the husks are burned as waste, emitting tons of CO2 into the atmosphere. Fortuna Cools seeks to replace plastic foam once and for all with upcycled coconut fiber insulation.