When we, the students of the Eco-club of DPS Sharjah, noticed the monstrously large leaf green sign possessing the shape of a 'restart' symbol nailed to the outer walls of the building encouraging all students and adults to make our habits and practices more sustainable, we knew that we had great things to discover and to learn about the practice of sustainability. When we entered the two-storey building, we were literally astounded by seeing usable benches made of the nuts, screws and bolts which are used in making machinery and equipment, models of butterflies made from our everyday 'Coke' cans,  glossy but fully functional stereo boxes made from recycled cardboard, bulbs with a 25-year lasting guarantee and the entire portrait of the man who inspired them to innovate, the CEO Of The Century, Steve Jobs, made from e-waste such as LED monitors, keyboards, old iPhones and PlayStation 4 controllers, there was no doubt in our minds why they had won the LEED platinum certification.

And this was only a quarter of what the naked eye could see.

And this was only a quarter of what the naked eye could see. The idea of sustainability also went into each wall, each flooring, each window, each light, each ceiling, all the furniture in and around it and every product they sold. It might be called Dubai's first sustainable store, but undoubtedly one of the most sustainable buildings, or 'green buildings' in the world. But yet, everything still seems the same, at a glance. An example is the glass overlooking the horizon on the top floor, which comprises of lesser materials, makes thinner glass panels and still, is one of the most stable glass materials out there. Their carpets, unlike any other, are designed in square pieces made of organic poly cotton and are woven together, in such a way that it doesn't have to be thrown away and wasted, only the affected piece is torn out and replaced by another low cost piece of the matching carpet. The automatic taps in the washrooms comprise of 95% of air and the remaining 5% of water and are temperature-adjustable, while the hot water is generated by the pumps on the roof, utilizing non-conventional sources of energy. The tube-lights, as we thought of them to be, are actually sunlight filters working in a way managing to keep out the dust during day, and using the sunlight collected at night, which accounts to about 6% of their total energy usage. Everything ranging from their cosmetics to their household items on sale are all bio-degradable and recycled. The time spent with the friendly staff members, were rather fun and interactive. And these were one of my most memorable experiences on this unique trip. I am sure the number of sustainable practices go to numbers more than I can count, and I have only managed to mention a few,  but what's most fascinating is that all these practices are designed and implemented in such a way that they excel in every criteria and pillar of sustainability, and all into one place. I assure you that these practices cannot be, or rarely found anywhere on the net, and what's inspired me about this is that they got inspired, they planned , they focused, they aspired, they innovated, made a benchmark in green living, started over, and spread this inspiration, until anything anyone touched that belonged to them, enhanced each life. I would like to conclude by a quote by their inspiration, the first step of this entire process. " Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the round pegs in the square holes, the ones who see things differently. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. But one thing you can't do is disagree with them. Because they change things, they push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do."