July 2022
Our student members got inspired by the global movement ‘Plastic Free July’ to reduce the use of single-use plastic! Do you know that water is also consumed in the process of manufacturing plastic items? For example, it takes at least twice as much water to produce a plastic water bottle as the amount contained in that bottle. Nileena Mariam Jonesh launched a four-day campaign to inspire her community embrace a plastic-free lifestyle.
June 2022
The theme of World Environment Day 2022 is #OnlyOneEarth and our student member Evana Eliza Vinoj has highlighted ways to restore our urban ecosystems. Urban areas occupy less than 1% of the Earth’s land surface but house more than half of its people. Urban ecosystems help improve our quality of life by cleaning up our air and water, cooling urban heat islands, and offering areas for play and socialize!
May 2022
Student member Vishnupriya Pillai, delivered an inspirational session dedicated to the water footprint of our daily lifestyles. Our daily choices, even the smallest ones, have an impact on our water resources and our mission to encourage everyone to become more conscious consumers. Vishnupriya invited everybody to commit in making a few simple changes in our everyday lives.
To close the topic of the water footprint of everyday things, a members field trip to Enviroserve, an Electronic Waste processing facility, helped everyone understand the pressure our consumption patterns put on our natural resources. The visit was an eye-opener on the scale of the amount of e-waste produced and how important it is to recycle components and materials that literary cost the Earth!
April 2022
Cheering Earth Day and shifting mindsets. Bringing change one drop at a time! Shashini Manikandan led the student members online session to highlight our role in preventing diffuse chemical water pollution originated… at home!
In the meantime, Nileena Mariam Jonesh from GEMS Millennium School in Sharjah created a video for her school recorded in the amazing Mangrove Reserve Park in Ajman to mark Earth Day.
Saanvi Rao rolled out a community campaign collecting 10kg of unused and expired medicines for their safe disposal. Medicines flushed down the drain can contaminate water, which can hurt aquatic wildlife. Saanvi mobilized her school – Delhi Private School, Sharjah -, friends, neighbors and Karate Center pals! Bravo for the outstanding impact!
Drop off any expired or unused medicines at Dubai Health Authority (DHA) pharmacies and hospitals from where it will either be disposed of safely or donated to those in need.
The student members field trip to Al Qusais Landfill Green Energy Solutions & Sustainability LLC was rich in leanings! Waste from Dubai is deposited at the landfill, encountering two major challenges: organic matter and plastic. Working toward a Zero Waste Lifestyle will help us reduce the wastage of resources and pollution.
March 2022
It’s World Water Day! Our favorite month! Listen to Abarnaa Sai, she has a lot to say about the situation of water around the world.
Mir and Mishal Faraz from The Winchester School led the monthly online session for fellow student members on the value of water. We do care and protect what is valuable to us, water included! A glimpse to our past, when clean water was more precious than oil in the UAE, gives an idea of how our country’s heritage and culture has been built around water sources.
February 2022
This month we celebrate UAE National Environment Day! Nature has been able to work out creative solutions to support all forms of life on earth. It’s time to begin asking Nature how to build a stronger, quicker to recover and more beautiful world. Let’s turn to nature to find inspiration in solving local and global water challenges.
Student member Vishnupriya Pillai has introduced the principles of biomimicry to the Scholer’s toast master gavel club in a speech that got the room super excited!
A cohort of student members has been invited to participate at the workshop organized by the Swiss Pavilion at Expo2020 on the topic ‘RE-THINKING FOOD SYSTEMS’. Access to healthy and nutritious food is a right, not a privilege. Yet, food systems are getting more complex and food insecurity and water scarcity in the MENA region are two of the key issues of the 21st century. Water Alliance student members shared their perspectives on how can we rethink our food habits, shape narratives, and use food as a powerful instrument of cohesion and inclusiveness.
January 2022
We love the feeling of starting the new year by highlighting the role of education! With their actions, student members empower everyone to act for the people and our planet. Water is essential to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals: from food, to health and education, without access to clean water and sanitation it’s difficult for anyone to prosper, and for nature and biodiversity sustaining us, to thrive.
