The ‘Pass It On’ initiative started by Eros Group has now moved to The Winchester School. Eros Group is a distributor in the UAE for consumer electronics with a portfolio of brands such as Samsung, Hitachi, Linksys and TCL. The campaign, initiated in 2010, has been taken across different schools. In the past, this innovative campaign has been run in schools such as the Dubai British School, Greenfield Community School and Gems World School.
The awareness campaign is in conjunction with ‘Take My Junk’ and aims at reducing electronic waste through extending the life cycle of electronic products by giving them away to those less fortunate. ‘Take My Junk’ collects unwanted household items from people in the UAE and further sell or distribute these items at a low cost to those in need.
“We are very excited to see how the ‘Pass It On’ initiative has been setting an example among young students in the UAE. We started this campaign in 2010, and it has gone from strength to strength, helping us help people who need it. With new technology being introduced every day, there is an increase in the amount of ‘technology redundancy’ which while outdated can still be used. Through ‘PASS IT ON’ initiative we not only raise awareness on the impact of e-waste on the environment but also encourage students, parents and staff to give their unwanted items a new home and a smile to someone,” said Niranjan Gidwani, Deputy CEO, Eros Group about the CSR initiative.
The ‘Pass It On’ campaign was introduced in The Winchester School through a forum for students, parents, visitors and teachers to address the issues with e-waste in the UAE. Using the forum as a platform, the audience was persuaded to make a commitment to give away or pass on unused and unwanted electronic items. During the one-month long campaign at The Winchester School, the Eros group will organize various sessions for the students and their parents to create awareness on the benefits of electronic ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’.
Thanking the school’s management for participating in the campaign, Mr. Gidwani further added, “The idea behind this initiative was: ‘One man’s junk is another man’s luxury’. Putting this philosophy into play, we decided to launch ‘Pass It On’ campaign across the UAE. This way we also ensure that more unwanted or waste electronic items are either reused or recycled and not just dumped in a landfill and affecting the environment.”
“‘Pass It On’ gives students the chance to pay it forward and help out people in need. It will instill a sense of responsibility among young people and give them a chance to contribute to the local community. This will also benefit their development as responsible global citizens,” said Ranju Anand, Principal and CEO, The Winchester School. She believes that being a part of this campaign will be a great learning experience for students.
‘Pass It On’ drop boxes have been placed in The Winchester School where students can put their unwanted electronic items. The team from ‘Take My Junk’ will collect the items from the school once the box is full and distribute it further to various labor camps located in UAE with the help of volunteers from Dubai British School’s teachers and students.
“Take My Junk is happy to be a part of the ‘Pass It On’ campaign since its launch. We are committed to providing benefits to disadvantaged members of our society and we’d like to express our gratitude to Eros Group and the management, teachers and students of The Winchester School for their consistent support, sincere efforts and enthusiasm for the campaign,” said Faisal Khan, Founder, Take My Junk, UAE and 800junk.
Eros Group has plans to further extend the campaign to other communities within the UAE.
