Recycle waste to plant a tree under your name

A women’s social media group in Abu Dhabi has collected nearly 580kg of recyclable paper as part of the Dubai-based Emirates Environment Group’s ‘One Root One Communi-tree’ campaign.

The Abu Dhabi Kerala Vanita Association (AKVA) Facebook group was formed earlier this year and has more than 1,200 members who hail from the southern state of Kerala in India.

A chance encounter with a news article on the EEG’s Communi-tree campaign inspired the group to sign up for it. The campaign encourages the community to start segregating their recyclable and non-recyclable waste at home and work. The participants are awarded with the opportunity to plant indigenous trees under their names.

Two-week target

The recyclable material can be paper, cans, glass, plastic and even mobile phones. There are specific quantities mentioned for the items you choose to recycle which have to be gathered within a fortnight.

“We had two weeks (since registration) to collect the target quantity of 500kg of paper,” said Shahina Yousuf, one of the founders of the group.

“Though the task seemed daunting at first we came up with an action plan. We put up posts on Facebook and other social media. Within hours we got many responses. Then we charted routes and logistics on how we could collect the material from different places. We are grateful to Svaastika (NGO) and The Shining Star International School for their generous and prompt contribution.” Soon the group had more material than they required.

So they decided to sort out the books in good condition, some of which were classics, and donate them to Operation Smile UAE. The AKVA group will be awarded with a certificate by EEG and will get to plant a tree in December. The latest edition of the One Root One Communi-tree campaign which began on January 17 runs until May 17

source : gulfnews