10-year-old boy spreads the message of recycling

A group of Grade 6 students from GEMS United Indian School, Abu Dhabi, have launched a #BeatPlasticPollution and recycling campaign to bring about a change in their community.
The campaign was initiated by 10-year old Sainath Manikandan, who is an active member of Emirates Environmental Group and ambassador of Drop It Youth Campaign, an awareness campaign urging students to rally against single-use plastic. Sainath has also been awarded the prestigious Diana Award 2018 for his commitment and passion protect the environment.
Sainath had presented his ideas of this campaign to his friends Muhammed Rayhan, Yusuf Ahmed and Alexio Sinu Chettiath, who were very much interested to join it and spread awareness among their schoolmates.
Sainath, along with his friends, was quite busy during the whole of June doing a class to class campaign in their break time and free time to inform students about the harmful effects of plastic to humankind and marine species. His sister Sai Sahana Manikandan, who is only 8 years old, also raised anti-plastic awareness in their extra curricular classes such as karate, abacus, robotics and drawing.
The youngsters are collecting various materials for recycling so that they can prevent the waste of potentially useful materials and reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, thereby reducing energy usage, air pollution and water pollution.
The year-long #BeatPlasticPollution campaign advocates refusing single-use plastic straws, cups, plates, spoons and cutlery items; taking your own cloth/jute/paper bags for shopping; carrying reusable lunch boxes, coffee mugs, steel/glass water bottles; talking to your local supermarkets and groceries to use non-plastic packaging.
"My main objective is to raise awareness about plastic pollution and its impact on humans and marine life. World Environment Day is not limited to just one day but should be observed every day. It is also not just limited to cleaning beaches. Our environment also involves deserts and other habitats and we have to ensure a safe, clean and healthy environment," said Sainath. He intends to organise a tree planting activity in September in line with WDCD 2018 theme, "Land has true value, invest in it".
saman@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
• Abu Dhabi