Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

Known as the "Green Machine," due to her great passion for the environment, Arushi takes every opportunity to spread awareness about the need to protect the environment and reduce waste. She visits schools using environmental videos and games, quizzing, and Green Talk sessions. She campaigns at food courts, cafeterias, factories, labour camps, ladies' clubs, youth groups and community assemblies. She teaches students about the benefits of organic farming, has organized educational trips for youth to sustainable buildings and other "green" UAE sites, and has persuaded factories to recycle packing material. She has given motivational presentations to educate women, laborers and children. Her campaigns, awareness sessions and workshops have positively impacted more than 5000 residents.
Arushi started a waste management program in her community that is now being used by all the residents and has managed to segregate and send 28,000kg (30 tons or 61,729 pounds) of recyclables for recycling, saving about 500 mature trees and 112,000 Kw of energy.
Her 'Energy Saving' campaigns contributed to saving a lot of energy by using low watt dimmers at lobbies on all the floors in various buildings during off-peak hours.
Believing in actions more than words, Arushi works at the grassroots level to set an example for others to follow. She makes tables from recycled tyres and promotes recycling. She has recycled 410 discarded tyres and made beautiful tables out of them. These tables have been used at seminars, exhibitions, Earth Day shows, 'Green Festivals' and few have been donated to schools to inspire people.
Deforestation is responsible for about 20% of climate change. Trees help lessen the 'Greenhouse Effect', therefore, she is focusing on planting trees and is involving others in tree plantation to build strong communities that protect and care for trees. By planting more than 1500 trees, she has contributed to reducing the carbon footprint and also promoted the importance of trees. She has been planting trees on her birthday and is promoting the idea of 'Birthday Plantation'. By doing tree plantation at kids' primary schools and play centres, she has involved kids in tree plantations and has helped in laying their green foundation.
Through her tree plantation programs including 'Community Tree Plantation', 'Birthday Plantation' and 'Plantings at primary schools', she has involved more than 2500 kids, 2000 youngsters and 500 older people in her plantation drives. Her 'Birthday Plantation' initiative has been very inspiring. More than 70 students have started to plant trees on their birthdays.
She organizes fun and creative activities for children and youngsters to emphasise on the issues like 'Plastic waste', 'Littering', 'Energy saving',.
Believing in the saying "If you educate a man, you educate an individual but if you educate a woman, you educate a family and a generation ", she ensures to promote awareness among women through her 'women special sessions' at ladies' clubs, societies, community gatherings and festivals.

Through her campaign "A Dose of Help", she collected more than 1000 units of unused (not expired) medicines with more than 120 different types, which were given to Emirates Red Crescent for the treatment of poor patients. These would have otherwise gone to landfill.

As President of youth community group "Students for the Earth", she organized many drives to collect unwanted clothes so that they don't end up in landfills. These clothes thus collected were either given to charity groups or sent to earthquake or flood hit regions.
The main message she conveys is: Whatever we do, affects our environment so before taking any action, let's ask ourselves 3 questions: 'Is it necessary?', 'What will be its impact on the environment?' And 'Is there an eco-friendlier alternative?'
By 2030, the UAE government wants to have reduced energy use by 30% and wants to eliminate waste sent to landfill. It has set laudable target but it is battling careless attitude of public towards the environment. The problem is attitudes that need to be addressed through education and awareness. Arushi is supporting the government by making serious efforts to change public perception, and remove their behavioral barriers to going green.
Through her various environment advocacies, campaigns, tree plantation drives, self -initiated recycling and waste management projects, she has been seeding the minds of youth, children and adults in her community to live in harmony with nature; to keep their environment clean and she has thus become an agent of environmental transformation in her community. She is on a mission to inspire and empower more eco-warriors to get into action to lead into a greener future.