(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A freshman at the University of Illinois from far southwest suburban Sandwich has been honored for helping the environment.
Matias Habib, 18, has been awarded the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, which honors advocates for the environment. Habib got the nod for developing his product Terrabuster, an eco-friendly pesticide that repels the destructive Japanese Beetle.
He says the project began about six years ago, when the beetles were destroying fruit trees in his hometown.
Another Barron Prize recipient is 16-year-old Rafi Amal of Chicago. He founded a nonprofit climate justice initiative that addresses environmental racism.
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