A young Crawford College Sandton learner who is passionate about driving environmental change has taken on her own clean-up projects.
Aadila Sirkhoth has always loved the ocean and cared about the environment but it has only been in the past few years that she began to understand more about climate change and the impacts it has.
She said that she would occasionally share a video on social media about climate change but felt that there wasn’t a lot of acceptance by her peers. “At the beginning of the year I wanted to change my mindset and I started to educate myself, I felt this longing to protect something that is important to me.”
Aadila tackled her first clean-up project in celebration of her birthday in June. World Oceans Month is also celebrated then and Aadila decided to organise a clean-up at the La Lucia beach in Durban. “I decided that, instead of getting gifts, I thought why not use my birthday to make an impact.”
“I spent hours begging and pleading for volunteers, organisations and sponsors for my Ocean Warrior Birthday Beach Clean-Up. As an inland kid, I know that even if it’s not my dirt, it’s my earth that I long to protect.”
She added that she didn’t care if she was the only person taking part in the clean-up because, “There is no ocean without every drop and even if I’m one drop I count toward change.”
The clean-up was a success and Aadila now feels inspired to take on more projects to keep her community clean.
She has an upcoming project planned in Woodmead where there is a large amount of plastic waste. Aadila said that waste recyclers play an important role in this area by helping to recycle this waste. She hopes to campaign for more support for the waste recyclers and also encourage more young people to become involved in clean-ups.
Aadila has also created an eco-club at her school and said that while it has been challenging encouraging others to join, she believes they are making small changes and hopes to encourage more young people at her school to take an interest in caring for their environment.
Share your thoughts on Aadila Sirkhoth’s clean-up initiatives on the Sandton Chronicle Facebook page
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