BENGALURU: In an effort to give back, a 17-year-old Bengaluru girl has donated 750 re-purposed notebooks to children from underprivileged backgrounds. Diya, a student of the Canadian International School, up-cycled unused paper from her notebooks and also of friends’, rebound them and donated them to a local government school and the Association of People with Disability (APD).
“I think re-purposing notebooks are a great way to reduce waste and make a difference to kids who may find it difficult to afford new notebooks. Also, raising money allowed me to bind the paper, giving the children both dignity and the thrill of receiving new notebooks,” she said.
In an effort to create more awareness, Diya used social media to spread the word and set up drop boxes in local apartments to collect unused or slightly used books. Following this, she worked to rebind them and designed front and back jackets for the new notebooks.
The 17-year-old got the idea after watching her mother up-cycle unused paper for various household chores. As part of her schoolwork, Diya launched the initiative and used the help of a mentor to identify local charities and schools where she could donate the books. So far, she has donated around 750 notebooks for the benefit of 200 children between Classes 1 to 7 and continues to do so.
“Her efforts to up-cycle these notebooks also show her respect for the environment which is so important. Re-purposing notebooks is a novel idea and the right gesture to help the underprivileged,” said Shweta Sastri, managing director for Canadian International School.