Khaleej Times

Kid cleans up Capital one paper sheet at a time

- Sarwat Nasir sarwat@khaleejtim­es.com

A young eco-warrior in Abu Dhabi is on a mission to reduce paper waste. She recently cleaned up 200kg of waste.

Arya Vyas, a 12-year-old student, has been carrying out clean-up drives by herself for several years now and she is an active member of the Emirates Environmen­tal Group (EEG).

She is one of the many youngsters who take part in the EEG’s clean-up campaigns and regularly submits paper waste for recycling. Her recent contributi­on was 200kg of paper waste.

“I have done campaigns in my school, including collecting paper, recycling plastics by turning them into vases, and donating my old storybooks or novels instead of throwing them away. I have been an active member of the EEG and I am continuous­ly participat­ing in their programmes. Last week, I donated 200kg of paper

for their latest project,” she said. “This year, I have recycled around 350 to 400kg of paper and 115kg of plastic.”

Her passion towards reducing paper waste stems from a belief that residents should work together to help reduce the world’s carbon footprint.

For her campaigns, she collects paper waste from residentia­l areas and encourages people to keep their paper trash for collection, instead of throwing them away.

“It takes time and we have to work patiently. A lot of support and encouragem­ent was needed to collect this much of paper. My family members, especially my dad and my mom, had set some time aside from their busy schedules and kept driving me around in Abu Dhabi,” Vyas said.

“It is important for the youth to be eco-friendly as we are the new generation, and there are already so many environmen­tal issues. Global warming is on the rise and air pollution is worsening drasticall­y. If the youth of today will be eco-friendly, then we will be able to address the environmen­tal issues we are facing today.”

She added that it’s important for schools to teach environmen­tal studies as it will make children more aware of the things and elements that adversely affect the environmen­t.

“If we learn it in school, then we shall be able to create a positive and eco-friendly generation that can improve the state of our environmen­t,” Vyas said.

If we learn it in school, then we shall be able to create a positive and eco-friendly generation that can improve the state of our environmen­t.”

Arya Vyas, student

 ??  ?? Arya Vyas has been carrying out clean-up drives for several years. She is an active member of the Emirates Environmen­tal Group.
Arya Vyas has been carrying out clean-up drives for several years. She is an active member of the Emirates Environmen­tal Group.

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