Tribune News Network
Doha
The students of Qatar Academy Doha – a Qatar Foundation school – recently received an appreciation letter from the Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for their efforts in pushing for a nationwide ban on single-use plastics.
Building on this effort, the students took up the task of beach-cleaning to raise further awareness about plastic pollution, littering and its detrimental effects on our environment.
Nine-year old Al Dhabi Al Thani, a student at Qatar Academy Doha (QAD), part of Qatar Foundation’s (QF’s) Pre-University Education, explained her reasons for joining the beach clean-up activity, where she, along with other students and staff from QAD and the Doha Environmental Actions Project (DEAP), collected, on average, 10 to 12 kilos of trash from different beaches, such as Al Mafjar, Umm Bab, Al Ghariyah, in Qatar.
Al Dhabi said, "I want to explore the beaches of Qatar and watch the birds landing on water. I want to dive to discover the different marine life in these waters. I want to be sure they are all fine and not in danger because of pollution and plastic.”
QAD was recently awarded the Eco-School Green Flag by QF’s Qatar Green Building Council for meeting sustainability standards and awareness. The students’ efforts in trying to ban plastic had the Amir send them a letter of appreciation in which he stated that this important initiative, launched by the students, indicates an early awareness of the danger of plastic waste to the environment, and that this campaign embodied the students’ love for their homeland, and instilled confidence in the determination of this generation and future generations to do what they can to contribute to the efforts to build a prosperous homeland.
The ‘Activists in Action’ campaign aims to raise awareness of the risks posed by single-use plastic bags and is on a mission to collect 10,000 signatures on a petition calling for these bags to be banned in Qatar.
"Plastic bags are very harmful to the environment. We are working to remove them, but that is not enough, as we are all supposed to stop using these bags and replace them with recycled ones,” Tamim Al Thani, another QAD student said.
"We request all community members to do their bit in preserving the environment, especially the sea, which has been a source of living for our ancestors – they used to dive to extract pearls and fish. And we want to protect it,” Tamim added.
Rawda Al Qassabi, another QAD student, said: "When we pick up a small piece of garbage from the beach or in a heritage place, we protect the environment from what could pollute and harm it.
"If we stop throwing trash everywhere and change our mindset to protect our surroundings, then we would be on our way to achieve our goal.”
Qatar Foundation (QF) schools offer a variety of environmental activities, such as Qatar Sustainability Week, Earth Day and World Environment Day to raise students’ awareness.
The schools also motivate their students to participate in activities that can have a longer and larger impact by positively influencing their behaviours.
"Exploration of the natural world is an important phase in educational development at this stage of life,” said Eman Abdulla, head of Learning and Outreach and Schools, Children’s Museum at Qatar Museums, and a mother of five children who study at QAD. "Through this beach clean-up initiative, these children will understand the connection between their lifestyle choices and the impact of plastic and trash in the oceans, beaches and heritage sites.”
Doha
The students of Qatar Academy Doha – a Qatar Foundation school – recently received an appreciation letter from the Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for their efforts in pushing for a nationwide ban on single-use plastics.
Building on this effort, the students took up the task of beach-cleaning to raise further awareness about plastic pollution, littering and its detrimental effects on our environment.
Nine-year old Al Dhabi Al Thani, a student at Qatar Academy Doha (QAD), part of Qatar Foundation’s (QF’s) Pre-University Education, explained her reasons for joining the beach clean-up activity, where she, along with other students and staff from QAD and the Doha Environmental Actions Project (DEAP), collected, on average, 10 to 12 kilos of trash from different beaches, such as Al Mafjar, Umm Bab, Al Ghariyah, in Qatar.
Al Dhabi said, "I want to explore the beaches of Qatar and watch the birds landing on water. I want to dive to discover the different marine life in these waters. I want to be sure they are all fine and not in danger because of pollution and plastic.”
QAD was recently awarded the Eco-School Green Flag by QF’s Qatar Green Building Council for meeting sustainability standards and awareness. The students’ efforts in trying to ban plastic had the Amir send them a letter of appreciation in which he stated that this important initiative, launched by the students, indicates an early awareness of the danger of plastic waste to the environment, and that this campaign embodied the students’ love for their homeland, and instilled confidence in the determination of this generation and future generations to do what they can to contribute to the efforts to build a prosperous homeland.
The ‘Activists in Action’ campaign aims to raise awareness of the risks posed by single-use plastic bags and is on a mission to collect 10,000 signatures on a petition calling for these bags to be banned in Qatar.
"Plastic bags are very harmful to the environment. We are working to remove them, but that is not enough, as we are all supposed to stop using these bags and replace them with recycled ones,” Tamim Al Thani, another QAD student said.
"We request all community members to do their bit in preserving the environment, especially the sea, which has been a source of living for our ancestors – they used to dive to extract pearls and fish. And we want to protect it,” Tamim added.
Rawda Al Qassabi, another QAD student, said: "When we pick up a small piece of garbage from the beach or in a heritage place, we protect the environment from what could pollute and harm it.
"If we stop throwing trash everywhere and change our mindset to protect our surroundings, then we would be on our way to achieve our goal.”
Qatar Foundation (QF) schools offer a variety of environmental activities, such as Qatar Sustainability Week, Earth Day and World Environment Day to raise students’ awareness.
The schools also motivate their students to participate in activities that can have a longer and larger impact by positively influencing their behaviours.
"Exploration of the natural world is an important phase in educational development at this stage of life,” said Eman Abdulla, head of Learning and Outreach and Schools, Children’s Museum at Qatar Museums, and a mother of five children who study at QAD. "Through this beach clean-up initiative, these children will understand the connection between their lifestyle choices and the impact of plastic and trash in the oceans, beaches and heritage sites.”