The present work investigates the role of two types of carbon nanodots (CNDs) as novel sensitizers of TiO2 to create a visible-light driven photo-catalyst that is not only efficient for solar-driven pollution abatement, but also inexpensive, durable and environmentally-friendly. Two widely available green organic precursors, the Argentinean herb Mate and the Stevia plant have been selected as the carbogenic source to thermally induce the formation of different types of CNDs with different levels of N and P doping and tunable photoluminescence response in the UV-vis-near infrared (N1R) ranges. These CNDs have been successfully assembled with TiO2 to form heterogeneous photocatalysts that are highly active in the visible-light and NIR- driven photodegradation of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP), a persistent chlorinated organic compound present in numerous pesticide formulations. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.