Thanking Uthman for the bag and congratulating him on his efforts, Fakieh regarded the presentation as timely. “We have an awareness campaign about waste in Jeddah scheduled for a couple of month’s time,” he said.
“We were learning about the Amazon Rain Forest and pollution at school and wanted to do something,” said Uthman, a year three pupil at the British International School in Jeddah (BISJ). “We had a design competition and I won it,” he said. The competition was to produce a logo that would symbolize recycling. Uthman’s winning design in the BISJ red, white and blue school colors, one of the parameters of the competition, was printed on a dark blue bag and presented to the mayor.
Uthman’s simple yet striking design of three solid white arrows in a circle was, he said, to show the way materials “go round and round” and could be reused. Asked what he wants to happen now the mayor has a bag, he said, “I want him to go shopping with it to show people about recycling.”
Neil Hugo, head of Primary Schools at BSIJ, who escorted Uthman, said that the school had put the bags into production. He said that the competition came about as a result of the study of environmental matters that form part of the normal school curriculum. “It grew out of that quite naturally and the children joined in enthusiastically.”
The recycled bag and its striking logo have reached a practical stage beyond the classroom. “We have a campaign at school and are selling the bags to parents, friends and anyone who wants them. If each household bought perhaps five or so, they would never need to use another plastic bag for shopping.”
Hugo said that a part of the development of the school’s campaign involves contacting supermarkets to encourage them to use fewer plastic bags by filling each bag with goods and drawing away from the habit of “one item, one bag.”
The “Suhayal Bag” is manufactured in the Kingdom out of recycled materials and is available from the school. “It would be a wonderful boost to the project and for the Kingdom if we could interest a supermarket or retail chain in taking the bags. It would have an immediate effect on the environment and promote the recycling message,” said Hugo.
