By Vida Moradinasab
American University of Sharjah (AUS) won a top spot in the Toner Collection Campaign, Academic Institutions Category of the recent Emirates Environmental Group (EEG) One Root, One Communi-Tree Competition in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as part of the group’s effort of making the UAE a greener place.
The Emirates Environment Group is a professional working group devoted to protecting the environment through the means of education, action programs and community involvement. Since its establishment in 1991, the group has grown in both its programs and its membership. EEG is credited to the planting of over 2 million trees in the UAE.
The two-fold objectives of the group involves Waste Management Programs and Tree Planting Initiatives. The Tree Planting Initiatives are divided into four categories under the umbrella of “For Our Emirates – We Plant”. The categories are The “You Can for a Tree” initiative, the “Together we Plant” initiative, the “Neighborhood Recycling Project”, and the “One Root, One Communi-Tree” project, under which the competition was held.
As part of its efforts to help create a more sustainable world, American University of Sharjah participated in this competition in two categories; the Toner Collection Campaign and the Mobile Collection Campaign. The university collected about 250 printer cartridges a month as well as over 100 used mobile phones for the campaign.
Overall the university collected 949 toners, making AUS the Winner in the Tonner Collection Campaign and making AUS eligible for two trees planted under AUS name. The university also collected 124 used mobile phones, making AUS among the Top Ten performers in the Mobile Collection Campaign, which count for one additional tree. Participants in various EEG recycling projects are encouraged to collect and deposit recyclable items such as paper, plastic, old mobile phones, used printer toners, batteries, aluminum cans and tetra pac beverage cartons for recycling; and are then awarded with the opportunity to earn an indigenous tree planted under their names according to the amount of recyclable materials they have collected. So, on Saturday, December 12, 2015 three trees were planted in the name of American University of Sharjah in a designated area in Fujairah.
“This recycling effort by AUS has led to the mitigation of 0.021 MT of Carbon Dioxide emissions, saved 756 gallons of gasoline and 102 trees from being felled,” said Habiba Al Marashi, EEG Chairperson.
To ensure the privacy of our community members, all the collected mobile phones were formatted by AUS Academic Computing before releasing them.
In additional to the three trees planted in the name of American University of Sharjah, the university was also awarded certificates of appreciation as the Winner of the toner recycling category and ranked top 10 in the mobile phone recycling category during the EEG annual awarding ceremony held at Ajman Museum Hall on Thursday, June 2, 2016.
Vida Moradinasab is the Sustainability Administrative Coordinator at American University of Sharjah.
Visit www.aus.edu for more information about American University of Sharjah
