Sunday, March 4, 2012

EEG, Tetra Pak Arabia, students step up Recycling Campaign Launch ‘Cartoona Club’ in schools


Dubai  – Students, acting as eco-guardians, telling their fellow students to take care of the environment and leading the way in recycling will soon hit the schools across the country.
 
This comes as the Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) inducted the first batch of 40 pioneering members of the newly formed Cartoona Club at the Towers Rotana- Dubai on February 29.
 
“What a better way to instill environmental awareness among our students than having their peers acting as eco-guardians,” said EEG Chairperson Habiba Al Marashi.
 
“The formation of Cartoona Club is aimed at creating a recycling society. We empower the more environmentally-aware students to educate and encourage their friends and schoolmates to do simple acts for the environment,” Mrs. Al Marashi added.
 
Cartoona Club members are deputized EEG student members who will ensure the active implementation of Tetra Pak Recycling Campaigns in schools.
 
Their tasks include ensuring proper disposal of consumed Tetra Pak beverage cartons; keeping Tetra Pak bins visible to students; encouraging fellow students to deposit their Tetra Pak in proper bins; and distributing flyers on Recycling in schools.
 
More importantly they will serve as EEG’s point of contact in terms of collection and keeping track of the Tetra Pak Recycling Campaign. They will also actively recruit their friends to become EEG student members and promote environmental awareness by conducting presentations in classrooms and within their circles of friends.
 
Twelve-year old Maryam Ehtesham, Grade 7 student at Delhi Private School in Sharjah, said after receiving her Cartoona Club badge from the EEG: “I’m very happy to take the responsibility because I love my environment. It will not only be me but I will also encourage my friends to actively participate in recycling and do our share in nurturing our environment.”
The EEG will provide informative materials and short videos explaining the benefits of recycling and will also ask the students to contribute with their own ideas on recycling to have an interactive process of understanding various environmental issues.
 
The EEG launched the Tetra Pak Recycling Campaign in collaboration with Tetra Pak Arabia on March 2010 in 20 schools across Dubai. The Campaign has spread all over the country since then and a total of 7.834 metric tonnes have been collected from schools, companies, hotels, restaurants, and various individuals as of January 2012.
 
Tetra Pak Arabia Environment Manager Mohammed Angawi said the Tetra Pak Recycling Campaign, which is the first of its kind in the Arab Region, has made a significant environmental impact considering that an estimated 6,000 tonnes of beverages from various retailers are consumed annually in the UAE alone.
 
“In line with our motto: 'Protects What’s Good', we are strongly committed to the protection and preservation of our environment and we are pleased to have partnered with EEG in raising environment awareness amongst our children,” Mr. Angawi said.
 
Mr. Mrad El Khoury, General Manager of Towers Rotana- Dubai, also commented: “Towers Rotana - Dubai would like to extend a warm welcome to the Cartoona Club and its members. It is our aim to be associated with projects that raise awareness about the environment in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, so it gives us great pleasure to place our full support behind the Cartoona Club launch and campaign. ”
 
The EEG thanked Tetra Pak Arabia for its continued support for the Tetra Pak Recyling Campaign since inception and Towers Rotana Hotel for graciously hosting the event.
 

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