'Create something new out of waste'

Tadweer, Abu Dhabi's Centre for Waste Management, announces the awareness award for students.

Tadweer, Abu Dhabi's Centre for Waste Management, expects a lot more participation and quality of work from this year's re-use waste competition.
Now in its third year, the Tadweer Awareness Award is open to students of all private and public schools and universities across the Abu Dhabi emirate.
"We expect a 25 per cent increase in students' participation this year, and as the award grows, we are going to be tougher in judging the entries," said Eisa Saif Al Qubaisi, general manager of Tadweer.
Established in association with the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) and Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research (MHESR), the award aims to make young children environment conscious by getting them to think of recyclable material not as waste, but as a new product.
The competition will award the best re-use of recyclable waste, whether it is a work of art made out of car tyres, a photographic project of used tins or a model of an Emirati village using recycled plastic bottles.
The key is to use recycled items. New cans, carton or plastic will automatically disqualify as it generates more waste rather than re-using existing one.
"We realise the need to make conscious efforts to educate the younger generation about the dangers of environmental pollution," stressed Al Qubaisi.
Targeting youth not only teaches children of all ages to care for the environment, but also their parents and extended families. "I know this method works. My own children come to me when they return from home asking about recycling and re-using waste, which makes me very happy," stressed Al Qubaisi.
"We live in a society where garbage is degrading, not to be touched, but now we are getting these young generations to create something new out of waste, using their own hands," he pointed out.
Award is only part of it
Tadweer's awareness campaign for re-using recyclable waste does not stop with the annual award for students. According to Al Qubaisi, the award is only "part of it".
"We get the community involved through various events in malls, we distribute leaflets and even run home visits to raise awareness about recycling and re-using waste," he mentioned.
The Tadweer Awareness Award began in 2013 with just 172 students from government schools in Abu Dhabi emirate. Last year Tadweer extended the participation to private schools, as well as private and public universities.
Thus, in 2014, it attracted 565 students from 102 schools, including 20 students from 20 universities out of 27 higher education establishments in the emirate.
Although environment is not yet part of the schools' curricula, there are 150 environmental clubs across schools in the emirate and teachers running these clubs along with art teachers and professors will be given workshops by Tadweer to familiarise them with the award's objectives and conditions.
"The deadline for the award's registration is November 30, judging will be in December and the award ceremony will be in January, during the EcoWaste 2016 exhibition," said Nada Khamees, the award's project manager at Tadweer.
The award will give cash prizes to the top three winners from primary schools (Dh6,500), mid primary (Dh9,500), secondary (Dh13,000) and university (Dh21,000).
silvia@khaleejtimes.com

• Abu Dhabi