Yoni Kalin

Washington, DC | 19

2014 Award Recipient

After watching a restaurant server throw away barely-used crayons at the end of a family meal, Yoni Kalin identified an opportunity to turn trash into treasure. An avid recycler, Yoni launched Color My World (CMW) in 2010, a project that promotes environmental awareness by finding use for recycled crayons, creating a sustainable model for recycling and donating crayons to homeless shelters, schools, and refugee camps around the world. To foster community engagement, Yoni encourages teens to host crayon donation drives and involve restaurants in supporting the cause, while educating children about the importance of recycling. Through his detailed online tool kit, Yoni has successfully recruited 75 teens and more than 130 restaurants to launch their own CMW projects. To date, CMW has donated more than 300,000 crayons across 17 states and seven countries. Yoni’s next focus will be a partnership with art teachers in underserved communities in Israel.