Winterville teen recognized for efforts to curb pollution

WINTERVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - A teen from Winterville is being recognized for how he is using drones to help the environment.

Kean Dao, a 17-year-old, co-founded Environmental Droners. The group uses technology to educate people about protecting the environment by finding polluted areas that need to be cleaned up.

Dao started the project when he noticed a large increase in single-use plastics during the pandemic.

Here’s how it works: They use drones to get footage of polluted areas on land and trash islands in the water. Once they track down those locations, they gather volunteers to head there and clean up.

So far, they’ve removed more than 5,000 pounds of trash and gathered hundreds of volunteers to help out.

Dao has been chosen as the Employee’s Choice Award Winner by Prudential Emerging Visionaries by America Ferrera and Prudential Chairman and CEO Charles Lowrey.

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