Arushi Madan – A 16 Year Old "Green Machine" Changing Her Community With Environmental Passion
Sixteen year old Arushi Madan from the United Arab Emirates just celebrated her 16th birthday. When you hear about all that she has done to help the environment in her sixteen years, you may not believe her age!
Like many young people we feature on IMK, Arushi’s accomplishments stem from her passion. In her case, it is for the environment.
Did you know that a glass bottle can take 40,000 years to decompose if it is not recylced? Or that the printing just one daily edition of one large newspaper can use up 75,000 trees?
These are the kinds of facts that drive Arushi’s passion for changing how we think and act. Her interest the environment is similar to another young person we featured on IMK from United Arab Emirates, Abdul Muqueet, who is also known as the “The Paper Bag Boy.”
Arushi takes every opportunity to spread awareness about the need to protect the environment. At family events, at school and in the community, she spreads her message about the need to:
- Protect the environment
- Save energy
- Reduce waste
Among the many activities that she has started or been involved with to help the environment are:
- Starting a recycling program in her 11 floor building that is now being used by all residents and is supported by the local waste management company
- Convincing the managers and residents of her building to turn common area lights off when not in use during the night hours
- Representing the United Arab Emirates at the Global Youth Eco Leadership Summit
- Serving as Secretary of her school Eco Committee
- Participating in various clubs such as Students for the Earth, Green Dream Earth and Green Globe
- Starting the “Ecoholics” Facebook page to spread positive environment values
- Recycling old tires from the junkyard to create tables from them!
Through her actions, she has also won numerous awards such as:
- International Diana Award for her environmental leadership
- Sharjah Environment Awareness Award-Outstanding Student
- Green Star UAE award
Below is a video that shows Arushi’s great passion for the environment and some of her activities. The world needs more young people like Arushi. Watch this and think about what you might be able to do with your family, your school or community to help improve the environment.
Additional Resources:
- Check out other IMK stories about inspiring kids and people that are helping the environment
- Check out 50 amazing (and alarming) facts for kids about the environment
- Check out IMK quotes for kids about passion and enthusiasm
- Learn more about Arushi’s country, the United Arab Emirates
Topics for Discussion:
- What are you passionate about?
- What is most unique about Arushi?
Take Action:
- Get ideas to help the environment from PBS Zoom
- Check out the Action for Nature community which encourages young people to take action to nurture and protect the environment
