The Girl Who Turned Orange Peels Into Rain
Can fruit peel help a farm survive a drought?
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The story
During a terrible drought in South Africa in 2016, 16-year-old Kiara Nirghin looked at thrown-away orange peels. She turned them into a cheap material that soaks up water and holds it in the soil, so plants keep drinking long after the rain stops.
What you'll learn
- Some natural materials can hold many times their own weight in water.
- Orange peel contains pectin, which helps trap and release water slowly.
- Kiara's project won the Google Science Fair from waste nobody wanted.
- Kid takeaway: the answer is sometimes in the rubbish bin.
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