An eight-year-old Indian-origin student has emerged as an unlikely eco-warrior in Dubai. Nia Tony collected nearly 15,000 kg of paper waste in the Gulf emirate as a part of the nation a nationwide recycling campaign, Khaleej Times reported.
Recognizing her efforts in keeping the environment clean, Nia was honoured a recycling champion during the 22nd edition of the Emirates Recycling Awards in Dubai on Monday.
Tony won the paper section in the individual category for her efforts in collecting a total of 14,914 kg of paper waste, the report said.
“I was campaigning around my area to collect paper, so that it can be recycled. Every week, I would go out to collect newspapers, magazines, and other paper that people were throwing away or didn’t want to keep,” she told the daily, according to a PTI report.
Nia also stressed on the need to spread awareness on recycling so that a person can acquire the habit of “living green” as he or she gets older.
The runner-up in the same category was seven-year-old student Lacksana Karthikeyan, who was able to collect 6,987kg of paper waste.
The campaign had different waste categories such as paper, plastic, glass, cans, mobiles and toners. The students chose different categories of waste to collect.
The UAE wide campaign has till now managed to reduce carbon emissions by at least 73,393 metric tonnes.
