Sharjah
I am a staunch environmentalist and I feel waste is the biggest environmental issue. However, I don’t like preaching without practicing. A lot of school students end up with notebooks that are barely used at the end of the school year and these are thrown away. So after every academic year, I pull out all the unused pages from my books and segregate them into different categories (as seen in photograph).
I use most of them for further rough use and for mathematics practice. I also keep papers that have print only on one side for use for practice of science diagrams.
I am a book lover, and I maintain my books so well, that by the end of the academic year they are still in perfect condition. So, many of my juniors, who are one grade level after me, request for my books well before the year ends.
I distribute my textbooks, notebooks and workbooks to my juniors so that they can refer to them whenever they have a doubt or even use the same textbook instead of buying a new one, unless a new edition comes out. Many of my question papers are given to them, too, so that it would help them to practice papers while preparing for exams.
Only the pages that have been printed on both sides, which I cannot give away to any other students, I pack separately and drop them off at one of the recycling bins near my house. This is extremely convenient and allows for the unused paper to be recycled instead of being thrown away.
I try to use my school uniform, bag, pencil pouch, geometry box and other stationary as long as possible, not insisting on buying new ones every year. If I am gifted a new school bag, for example on my birthday, or if I buy a new one for the new academic year, then I send the old one along with many other pens, pencils, pouches and stationary items to India where my grandmother donates them to an orphanage. Incidentally, my father went to India a few days ago, and I sent a lot of my school supplies with him so that it will help children who are less fortunate in a small way and help bring a smile on their face. There are a lot of ways one can go green, but helping someone out in the process is a very good feeling.
— The reader is a student based in Sharjah.
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