Girl collects paper to combat waste
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dubai — A young eco-warrior in Abu Dhabi has collected 100kg of paper waste going door to door last month as part of her ‘Save Energy, Save Mother Earth’ environmental campaign.
A Grade 6 student at Mayoor Private School in Abu Dhabi, Arya Ajay Vyas, regularly collects paper and plastic waste from her school and neighbourhood to reduce the negative environmental impact.
Supported by her family and school, the 10-year-old has also handed out more than 100 flyers since the start of October with tips on how residents can conserve energy. Vyas started campaigning earlier this year in May and has collected a total 620kg of paper waste since then.
“My main motivation for collecting paper waste is to give back to mother Earth and sustain its resources for future generation,” Vyas said. “If we wish for the next generation to prosper, then we must protect the Earth as the future generation will also need fresh environment and climate.”
Vyas started distributing pamphlets and brochures with tips on how to conserve energy and with her mother’s number written on them, asking people to call her if they had paper or plastic waste.
“That is how I collect all of the waste. People in my school and in my neighbourhood call me when they have waste to give away. I’ve said in my pamphlets that they should not throw it away and call me,” she said.
“When I started, they thought it was just some small school work, so the response was small. Later, when we started collecting waste from a few homes and told others how people were responding, they started helping as well.”
Vyas’ mother said many people in neighbouring buildings do not throw away their paper and plastic waste anymore and call her instead, so that Vyas can collect it.
She goes to door-to-door asking for paper or plastic waste and gives a five-minute awareness presentation and tips on how each household can play a part in reducing negative environmental impacts.
Vyas believes that conserving energy and water is vital in the UAE. “By recycling one tonne of paper, we can save 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water. In a country where most of the landfill is desert it is vital to save energy and become a responsible citizen,” she said.
The waste that Vyas collects from homes is received by Emirates Environmental Group office in Dubai. Besides taking on ecofriendly initiatives, Vyas also tries to spread the word on the importance of reading “good books”.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com
This is how I collect waste. People in my school and neighbourhoods call me when they have waste to give away.”
Arya Ajay Vyas, student, Mayoor Private School, Abu Dhabi