15-year-old Hyderabadi encourages students to use old textbooks to save trees

Hyderabad: For Generation Z, popularly called as the Gen Z, sustainability is more important than whatsoever. According to a 2021 Pew Research report, 76 per cent of people under the age of 24 years, termed climate change as one of the biggest societal concerns.

Realising the importance of sustainability for a greener earth, this 15-year-old Hyderabadi started an initiative that holds promise of saving lakhs of trees that are cut every year to make papers from them.

There was an era when an elder sibling in the family or a neighbour would pass down their textbooks to the younger ones. We used to cover them with old newspapers to make them seem new.

Anusha Agrawal, a tenth-grade student and a resident of Gachibowli, is making the practice of reusing books cool again by educating people on how one can reduce the number of trees cut by reusing books. She has also launched a website named Carbon Neutral Warriors where people can register to donate school textbooks to same school juniors and even register to receive the textbooks from seniors.

The idea sparked inside her when she visited a lake in the city as part of community service and noticed its pitiful condition.

 

 

 

“The water turned green and the lake was virtually a dump yard. That’s when I realised how much we are harming our environment. At that moment, I made up my mind to do something for the environment,” says Anusha, adding that the initiative of reusing books was just her first step towards protecting the planet.

The website helps connect the donor with a receiver and can also coordinate the picking of books. More than 500 people are currently part of the carbon-neutral community and are said to be doing their bit for a greener environment.

 

The youngster collaborated with multiple schools in the city including The Future Kid’s School and Indus International School in order to reach more people.

“We have also partnered with various go-green non-governmental organisations like Green Yatra and Green Brigade. They are helping spread the word,” Anusha says, adding she also arranges plantation drives near residential societies under the initiative.

---

Now you can get handpicked stories from Telangana Today on Telegram everyday. Click the link to subscribe.

Click to follow Telangana Today Facebook page and Twitter .

---