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Second Prize: Tania Gurdasani
I attended the Earth Hour Celebrations held on the 23rd of March as I’ ve been doing past two years. A toastmaster’ s gavel meet was on schedule for me on the same day. So we decided to bring some gaveliers along. Our Club Mentor, TM Anupama Parkar came along with us too! It was wonderful to see the massive Burj Khalifa plunge into darkness on the dot at 8:30 pm. The entire“ Downtown” Area was filled with a variety of kiosks giving out small badges and watches that we were to light up during the walk. The walk itself was a nice experience. Thousands of people marched following the two main characters, one dressed as a battery and the other as a symbol of light. Finishing the walk within 30 minutes, we headed back to Downtown where the words“ Earth Hour Dubai” and“ 60” were lit up with candles in both English and Arabic. We snapped a few pictures with the candles and also with the lit-up seats on the way. I must say it was a wonderful experience. We also witnessed a brilliant performance by a group of 10 – 12 dancers who swayed to the tunes of sensational music, with lights in their hands. It was a spectacular show. It has been recorded by Dubai Electricity and Water Authority( DEWA) that we reached savings at a rate of 200,000 kWh, preventing 120 tons of carbon emissions. This was possible only as a result of the massive co-operation of the many people that attended the event. I personally think that saving electricity should not be restrained to just an hour on one day in the year. We all need to ensure that we save electricity all the time. In our homes, schools and offices too. Awareness and changing our behavior is the key. See that seat I’ m resting my hands on? It’ s in the shape of a cube. Have you ever wondered why a cube? The specialty of a cube is its equal features. Equal sides, equal faces, equal lengths all over. Just tells us that we should“ equate” even the essentials of our life. We can simply talk about the electricity. Why leave the lights switched on when no one is using them? Why keep your laptops on power saving mode when you can switch it off and get back to it later? See the amount we NEED to the amount we USE? Is it the same? No, so EQUATE it! Let us remember the wise words of Mahatma Gandhi,
“ We have enough for everyone’ s need, but not for everyone’ s greed.” We should make sure that the future generation doesn’ t suffer because of our mistakes. They should have enough resources, just how our fore-fathers left us. It may be hard at first but with a little determination, all will be well. Gather some inspiration from this poem written by me – Where there’ s a will, there is a way. You just got to know the way. Only when you take the first move, You will never lose. There may be hurdles on the way, But we must not sit back and stay. We must move on‘ Cause we are born To achieve success And be the best!
Go on and do you bit to save the earth!
Eco- Youth( Sfe.)
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