Dear Ambassadors, besides recycling the paper & plastic etc. it is equally important to recycle e-waste as well. Have you ever wondered that when your phone stops working or you trade up for a newer model, where does it go? Like any electronic device — from laptops to lamps, washing machines to flat screen TVs — it doesn?t just disappear. It becomes electronic waste, or e-waste — a fast-growing category of trash that in 2016 alone added up to a hefty 44.7 million metric tons (49.3 million tons) worldwide, according to The Global E-waste Monitor – 2017, a new report published by the United Nations University, the International Telecommunication Union and the International Solid Waste Association. That?s the weight equivalent of close to 25 million passenger cars.

This is so scary & huge number, therefore, I understood the need to control this & I educated a large number of students to collect waste mobiles and other e-waste items. Together we submitted all this to Beeah [a local recycling company in the UAE. They take care of e-waste in a professional manner, therefore, it is very important for me to do this myself & motivate many others to not to throw e-waste in the trash.

My initiative drew a massive response and all the participants promised to carry our similar activity in the neighbourhood. This has given immense satisfaction to me that a drive has been successful to the core & this will be carried out in the future as well by other students in their respective communities.

I am a regular collector of used & waste mobiles & I make it a point to submit the same to local recycling companies like Beeah & EEG. I have submitted a substantial number of mobiles for recycling. Therefore, I strongly urge all the fellow ambassadors to collect e-waste in their respective regions & try to make this world a much greener place to live.