UAE | Environment
Sharjah pupils make paper bags
Thirty pupils of Our Own English School for Boys in Sharjah set aside a slice of life every Thursday, to help create a greener Earth. They make paper bags.
- By Nasheet Jaffer Khan, Community Journalist
- Published: 00:08 May 18, 2008
- Every week 30 pupils take part in this classroom activity geared towards protecting the environment.
- Image Credit: Atiq-ur-Rehman/Gulf News
Dubai: Sixty hands get to work for 60 minutes each week. The sound of paper being snipped cuts through the silence in the classroom. Thirty pupils of Our Own English School for Boys in Sharjah set aside a slice of life every Thursday, to help create a greener Earth. They make paper bags.
Gulf News' 'No to plastic bags campaign' inspired this 'activity period'.
Niraj Suvarna, a pupil, said: "The series of informative articles in Gulf News on the hazards caused by plastic bags, gave me a clearer picture. When I read about other people actively involved in saving the planet, I wanted to help, too."
The school actively promotes recycling by way of its activity periods.
Laxmi Menon, a science teacher at the school, said: "As part of our initiative, pupils are taught to make paper bags, bookmarks, paper envelopes, pencil holders, gift boxes, storage files and other things of use."
The school's effort seems to have paid off with the awareness generated among pupils.
"I am now more alert to the dangers posed by plastic bags. I saw what plastic bags could do to camels in a [Gulf News] report. I do not want to contribute to the problem," George Zacharia, a grade six pupil, said.
The enthusiasm shown by pupils has helped launch an active environmental club within the school, too.
The club's first activity is to make their school auditorium soundproof through an eco-friendly system, by using discarded egg trays made from paper.
The egg trays are painted black and stacked in paper cartons of the same colour.
Green ideas
"The end product is then stuck along the inner walls of the auditorium. It will take a lot of time and effort but we are definitely going to finish it," Piyush Tripati, the school's senior supervisor, said.
However, all of this would not have been possible without the support of the school's principal, Thomas Mathew. He has continuously encouraged teachers and pupils to hone their creative talents and conjure ideas that would be cost effective and 'green'.
He said: "I am glad that Gulf News is sustaining such a well-defined and subjective campaign. Such education must be imparted to children from an early age."
Sindhu Nair, a science teacher, agreed. She said: "Children are the future ... when we measure the rate at which our planet is being affected, it would be foolish not to take immediate measures ... it is for our own safety."
Not all lessons are confined to the classroom. Some travel beyond.
Vinil Kumar, a grade eight pupil, said that he now actively discourages friends and family from using too much plastic.
Arti G., a science teacher, added: "The Earth is our home ... if we don't take care of it, who would? We wouldn't like our home to become a mess, would we?"
Environment day: All use the bus
- On World Environment Day, June 5, the entire staff of Our Own English School for Boys, Sharjah, uses the school bus instead of their personal cars, to commute, as a conscious measure to save fuel and energy.
- A part of their eco-friendly agenda, the school regularly collaborates with environmental groups for can collection drives.
Share this article
Related Articles
-
Green purchasing action drive
Green purchasing action drive
-
A few fils a day help save animals
A few fils a day help save animals
Popular in UAE
-
Your pictures
Readers' pictures
The best reader pictures from around the UAE this week
Latest news
- Ministry opens hotline to report violators
- First well in relief project to honour scientist
- Help me find my precious cat
- AG expresses confidence in public prosecution's skills
- National ID needed for Interior Ministry services
- Meet to discuss ways to secure energy supplies
- Deyaar case: Expert asked to submit detailed report i
- Institute adopts best judicial practices
- Dubai hospital wins Spain architecture festival award
- Masters in construction law to address sector's concerns
- Private schools form lobby group
- New council to strike demographic balance
- Green moves make desalting plant less damaging
- Technology can negatively affect girls: forum
- Dubai-based British athlete attempts to swim around Palm in record bid
Community Reports
-
Help me find my precious cat
Raif, my cute eight-month-old ‘fur ball', went missing in Abu Dhabi's Al Bateen area last month
-
Pavement parking irks pedestrians
Gulf News reader calls on authorities to step in and stop car owners from invading pathways meant for safe walking
-
Faded parking lines pose a problem
Motorists could be fined for parking incorrectly even though they can hardly see the boundaries in the designated areas
-
School buses block residential parking
Commercial vehicles taking up free parking facilities in Al Wuheida, inconveniencing residents in surrounding villas
