As Team Leaders for group "Students for the Earth (SFE)" , I and Deepika organized an ENVIRO-ART COMPETITION on Friday 25^th July at Indian Association –Sharjah .

We have been preparing for it for 2 weeks. After finalizing the concept(painting on plain T shirts)  , we were on look out for venue as it is very hot in UAE and we can't hold any event outdoors. We contacted Indian Association and met it's Vice President and Secretary. I gave my Tunza Eco Gen Ambassador card and we told them about our event and overall objective of spreading positive environmental values. We explained them that ours is a youth community , non profit group and we voluntarily organize social , humanitarian  , mainly environmental events to inspire youth and children towards environment protection  so we would appreciate to have their hall as free of cost venue for us. They were impressed and decided to support us and approved to give us the venue free of cost. We were very happy to have their approval.

Then we started looking for plain T shirts on which participants would be asked to paint environmental pictorial message. We were glad to know that renowned fashion designer Ms Simran agreed to sponsor /support us with plain T shirts made from bamboo fabric.

Then we started thinking of panel of judges. We wanted to have 3 judges from 3 different backgrounds but related to environmental field. We finalized the below 3 professionals for our panel :

1.      Ms Anjum Hasan –Environment department Co-ordinator of Eco school Delhi Private School-Sharjah. She recently won the best (environment) Co-ordinator award from Sharjah sustainability award authorities and has been the driving force behind all the green accolades of Delhi Private School-Sharjah.

2.      Mr. Arnaud Fabre –Founder and CEO of "Agriculture Box" –Unique turnkey solution for organic farming. His unique concept is gaining popularity not only in UAE but globally as well.

3.      Ms Simran –Well known Fashion Designer who also supported us with free T Shirts made from bamboo fabric. She runs her own Garment manufacturing factory .

We announced the event through posters on various social media pages. We got good response. We registered 24 participants from 12 different schools for this competition .

On the day of event 25^th July , we were glad to see total 60 people including parents and judges. We started the event with welcome note , introduction of judges and then motivation talk on :

a)     Say no to food wastage :giving reasons and disadvantages of food wastage . How it means wastage of resources which go into food production. So many starving , malnourished people and wasted food adding to landfill –detrimental to environment.

b)     Practice 3 Rs. Giving example of few upcycled products from otherwise scrap material.

c)      Saving paper , minimizing paper wastage by printing on both sides , by voiding printing if it is really not needed and can be done by e copy. Using recycled paper for gift wrapping etc.

d)     Avoid using private transport –explaining how it increases carbon footprint. Advising everyone to use public transport.

e)     Say no to smoking as it thrills but kills-is harmful for health , environment , & family life .

f)       Save energy –advising to use energy efficient appliances

g)     Save water-giving real life examples where a common man wastes water like during brushing teeth , taking bath , washing car , washing dishes , washing clothes etc . Also explained how precious is water.

Then came interesting session of the event : Enviro-Pledge. We asked participants to write their enviro-pledge on pledge board.  6 year old boy so cutely wrote "Save water". Pledge Board was a testimony of our commitment towards environment and the day we dedicated to environment.

We then announced the rules of ENVIRO-ART Competition. Rules were :

1.      Participants would be given 45 minutes time after the theme is announced

2.      They should paint on plain T shirt provided by us

3.      Name and grade should be mentioned at the bottom of painting

4.      Laptop , i-Pad or any such help not allowed

Theme was announced "My Green Superhero". It was nice to see small children as young as 6 years painting very creatively.  The competition was a good way to challenge participants artistic skills from environmental bent of mind.

While participants were busy painting , we invited judges towards the pledge board and requested them to write their enviro-pledge .

As soon as time was up , we requested participants to hang their painted T shirts on the stand we kept there. We then requested judges to evaluate the entries for best 3 and 2 special recognition for younger ones.

I , then , started the next session "Introduction of Tunza Eco Generation". I told about Tunza Eco Generation , how to create an account , it's advantages , Ambassador program , various events . I distributed my card  (in case they have any query on Tunza Eco Gen ) & Tunza Eco Gen leaflets.

While judges were busy judging , we conducted quiz to check and increase students awareness about environment basics and necessary facts . Participants who answered correct were given Tunza Eco Gen pens as prize.  We then asked if any participant wanted to ask environment related questions.  Participants enthusiastically came forward on stage with great questions . It was quite an interactive session –all about environment .

This was followed by award ceremony.  Some of the paintings were so good and thought provoking. But the top 3 were awarded and next 2 were given special recognition prizes.

We also gave our token /gifts of thanks to esteemed judges.  Gift hamper to judges included eco –friendly bag from Tunza Eco Gen , T shirt for them made of soft bamboo fabric and other gifts.

We then distributed certificate of appreciation to every participant.

We concluded the event with group photos wherein we told all participants to wear the T shirts they painted.

Later these T-shirts were collected back to be given to charity.

Overall , the event was successful. We had City7TV crew with us to cover our event.

This event was much more than an art competition  as we promoted positive environmental values.

All participants , parents , organisers took a pledge to do their bit in saving Mother Earth. It was not only a verbal pledge but also a pledge written by them on Pledge Board.  All together 60 people carried back home a strong message of need to adopt eco-friendly life style to conserve environment. objective of this event was to spread positive awareness about environment protection and inspire students as well as parents.

We are overwhelmed to see our event covered in various media.

Event was telecasted on City 7 TV . It can be  viewed thru the below link:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=262119633985600&set=vb.100005626955595&type=2&theater 

or on you tube below link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VELglZE62v4&list=UU40DjtYCztZJN6btbiU-nuQ

In  today's "The Gulf Today" newspaper , below link :

http://www.gulftoday.ae/portal/6e98795a-2a9e-4694-8863-fd82d8caa90e.aspx

"Mathrubhumi" newspaper  ,below link:

http://digitalpaper.mathrubhumi.com/311208/Outside-Kerala/27-JULY-2014#dual/2/2 

 "7 days in dubai" newspaper , below link :

https://7daysindubai.com/schoolchildren-get-creative-environmental-message-students-earth-initiative/

To view more pictures of the event , you can view them on :

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.580922128685741.1073741856.354046688039954&type=1