My Dream

By Abrar Sirohey

I live in a city from where you can see mountains in the distance, with patches of slowly disappearing forests. A big river cuts right through the middle, but the river is murky and polluted.

On one rainy day, my family and I decided to sit together and watch a movie of my older brother James’s choice.

He picked a documentary about how the world might end.

I thought it was a little scary, but a good show nonetheless. After watching it, I had a glass of warm milk and fell fast asleep in my room. My dream started normal enough . . . I showered, got

dressed, proceeded to the kitchen, and got onto the bus to school, you know the drill. But then something really strange happened. The bus broke down in front of a burning forest halfway through the trip. Now here’s where the dream gets weird: the burning forest seemed to engulf everything. It was awful. You could almost feel the pain and sorrow of all the animals who had lost their homes and possibly even their loved ones. And this was all due to the greed and carelessness of humans and their disregard for the environment.

Wildfires occur a lot as natural disasters, but our energy consumption habits are causing them to happen at an accelerated rate and making it harder for the forests and the wilderness to recover.

I woke up in a cold sweat but quickly shook it off as a nightmare. I had breakfast and got on the bus and went to school. I met my friend Mohammed, an inventor, and told him all about the dream over lunch break. We were both determined to try and prevent the nightmare from becoming a reality and he already had some machines in mind to help our cause.

We decided to head to the principal and tell him we need his help. That’s when he taught us about the UN’s SDGs or Sustainable Development Goals. We then asked him how he could implement some of the SDGs in our school. He said he would try his best to implement SDG number twelve: responsible consumption and production, by distributing recycling bins across the school and restricting the use of disposable plastic.

‘But sir, what about SDG number seven: Affordable and clean energy? The electricity it

takes to power buildings, houses and factories should also be sustainable and not too expensive.’

‘I’m sorry, but the solutions that are currently available, like solar panels, windmills and hydropower dams, are not very cheap and we can’t afford it yet.’

With this, we were dismissed and went off to class as the principal was busy again. When school finished, I asked my mother if she could allow me to spend the evening at Mohammed’s house to work on a new project. She agreed. As soon as I got to Mohammed’s house, we grabbed some snacks and went straight to his father’s garage workshop.

We started work on some more affordable prototypes for things like solar panels that take energy from the sun’s rays, windmills that take energy from the gusts of wind, and watermills that take energy from the flow of water.

By the time I had to leave for home, we had completed mini prototypes for solar panels that worked under a desk lamp, a windmill that worked by blowing on it, and a watermill that worked by running it under the tap. The next day,

we showed our designs to our science teacher, asking if it was possible to implement these prototypes at a larger scale. She said it was possible and that these models were a great start. Feeling hopeful, we went to the principal and asked how we could make the prototypes a reality.

He suggested starting a fundraiser or a charity to help obtain the resources for the project. As soon as we got home, we designed and started a small fundraiser website explaining what we wanted to do and why we needed help.

The very next morning, Mohammed and I set up banners and small stands in the school. We decided to call our project PowerOnix. I told my older brother, James, about what we were doing and asked if he could help. He agreed to help us out on our mission. In the next few days, all three of us had gathered enough resources to build a few life-size models. We reached out to some hobbyists, professionals and builders to ask for their help in building our models. One of them even let us use his workshop and hangar to build them.

We built our first models and put them

into action in school and the river nearby. We installed small electricity meters on the models to show people how much electricity they are producing. Eventually, more and more people were starting to donate to our cause and some even posted about it on social media. All the while, we were producing more models, each better than the last. Our designs even spread throughout our town, significantly lowering our carbon footprint. However, even with the example of our town, others refused to change. It was so much easier for people to destroy the earth and then leave it to the next generation to face the consequences.

Many people stood up to this and switched to a sustainable lifestyle to give an example to the others who didn’t care. We gave tips like ‘ride a bike if your commute isn’t that long’, ‘reuse things inside your house’ and ’replace disposable items like coffee cups or plastic bags with more sustainable options’. Soon enough, we had convinced most people to change and more and more schools and towns were adopting these ethics until finally we reached a point where we

all felt that the government should support and fund these ideas too.

But there was just one issue . . . a rich businessman who had his own interests and was able to influence the government. He was holding back our plans because switching to a sustainable energy source would put his coal mining and fracking company out of business.

Fracking is a bad practice that involves fracturing the rock layers deep beneath the surface to make holes through which they can take things like natural gas, oil and petroleum out.

So, to try and stop us, he prevented the government from funding us and bought the plots we were going to build our factories, windmills and solar panels on. We were practically blocked from continuing our project. We sat and contemplated for hours, thinking about how we could continue our mission. With no other options available, we decided to speak to him personally. We took our car to his company’s headquarters, went to his secretary, and requested an appointment. She told us he was available right away.

We made our way to his office and thought that only one of us should go in to talk. I decided to go, so I knocked on the door.

‘Come in,’ came a deep and raspy voice.

‘Good morning, you must be the co-founder of PowerOnix.’

‘Yes, and I’d like to ask you about something that’s been stopping us from progressing as a community.’

‘And what might that be?’

‘We’ve noticed that you have been buying the factories and workshops we were going to convert, the plots of land we were going to build solar panels and windmills on, and there are rumours that you have been influencing the government not to support us.’

‘Look, kid, if you continue, my entire company will go out of business and I can’t let that happen.’

‘But what about the greater cause, THE

FUTURE?!’ I said, starting to get agitated.

‘That’ll be the future generation’s problem and by that time, I’ll be long gone, after having lived a rich life.’

‘With all due respect, what about your chil-

dren or other children?! You want them to face

the consequences of your carelessness?!’

He paused, hesitated, then said,

‘OK then, call me in two days with a solution that benefits my company and the economy and also helps people switch to a sustainable lifestyle, and maybe then I’ll support PowerOnix. If you can’t find a solution fast enough, do not bother me again,’ he said with a smug grin, doubting that we could find a solution.

He handed me a note with a number written on it.

‘This is my personal number, call me when you have a solution.’

‘AGREED, I will call in two days with a solution. Thank you for your time.’

I left the office, met up with Mohammed outside the building, and told him about the whole meeting. We both racked our brains trying to find a solution we could bring to the businessman. The deadline was approaching and we still had only a rough idea of what we could give to him as a solution. Within the last few hours of the second day, a lightbulb went on in my head: if we simply

replaced coal and oil, the rest of the chain would not need to change much at all.

Instead of investing in mining machines and having human workers work in such conditions, you could invest in solar panels, windmills and watermills as well as larger hydropower dams. In return, you get electricity for powering (repurposed) sustainable factories and design workshops (that will improve the models).

With new and improved designs that either produce more energy per model or that are easier and cheaper to manufacture, you can then sell the energy and goods. Larger designs can even be sold to communities or cities to power everyone’s homes more sustainably. It was so simple; I had been overthinking it. There were already examples in the real world. Take countries like Iceland and Sweden. They are powered by almost 100% sustainable energy and use sustainable agriculture and farming methods. Both countries are also financially stable.

The next day, with these ideas, examples and some new blueprints, I called the number on the

note. After a few seconds of nervous waiting, the same deep and raspy voice answered. I told him I had a solution and he told me to meet him in his office. Hearing that, I hopped into the car and headed there straight away.

As soon as I got to his office, I showed him my designs.

He paused, thought and spoke:

‘I will allow you to build on the plots I bought and will lend you one of my factories, but I will not switch my business.’

‘But sir, may I ask why?’

‘Have you thought about all my machines, my equipment, all that has already been done?’

‘Sir, everything can be repurposed, if not recycled. The past is behind us, it isn’t too late to change now.’

‘I said I wouldn’t change. I have given you some land and a factory. I have made my decision. Do not bother me again.’

I sighed, feeling let down.

‘Thank you for your time. I hope you reconsider.’

I left the building, met up with Mohammed, and told him that we now had resources. I also

told him how the businessman rejected our solutions and how I felt let down. He focused on the positives and reminded me that we now had resources and that it was really great news. I cheered up a little and we continued our project.

After a few weeks, I got a call from the businessman asking about the blueprints for our solution. I felt happy that he reconsidered. We began to see his company change little by little until it was fully sustainable. Not only did his company change but he also became a better person overall; he became more caring and even his voice softened.

This just goes to show that everyone has some good inside of them that if given a chance takes over.

Just remember, balance is key: no darkness without light, no light without darkness.

With this, we continued expanding throughout our region, leaving cleanliness in our footsteps.

All was well, the river was clearing up, the forests were recovering, and the sky was a beautiful clear blue. But the job isn’t over yet. You

still have a part to play. Try your best to become as sustainable as possible to help our planet recover.