Sharjah
On the environmental event of Earth Hour, we often see the official logo ‘60+’, which indicates that rather than switching off our lights and appliances during this one hour, we should go beyond. So this year, I thought environmentally out of the box, and came up with the idea of reducing carbon emissions, as we do during the much-awaited hour in my own way.
I innovated a pistachio pen holder, which reuses simple materials like an aluminum can, pistachio shells and my mother’s expired nail paint. Once we are able to effectively reuse materials to recycle them into new and useful things, there will be less production, which will lead to sustained energy and less carbon emissions. So you see, the same essence of the event can be carried forward in our day to day life to continue the trend of this hour.
All I needed to do was cut the lid of a can and apply glue on its exterior. I then pasted the pistachio shells all over the can and painted each one of them with a different colour of nail paint. I made sure to fill the gaps and decorate it with a 3D outliner. And then a beautiful, colorful eco-friendly pen holder was ready, suitable for an office desk, teacher’s table or even a student’s study table at home. We can use these to hold our school supplies in an organised manner.
Pistachios are something that we consume on a frequent basis. Creating useful green products is what can make the difference in going beyond the phase of the Earth Hour.
Anjum Hassan, the environment coordinator of Delhi Private School in Sharjah, applauded me on this achievement.
She said: “It is initiatives like these that make us feel that there is hope for our future.”
I would encourage all readers to do their part in the same manner, and to definitely follow the Earth Hour ‘mantra’ just like every year, but this time to go further and beyond.
— The reader is a student based in Sharjah.
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