Lean, Mean Recycling Machine

Dimaunahan Karen Grace Salvador was only 13 when she realized that she was not like the other regular teenagers her age. Her passion and love for recycling, songwriting and music, fuelled her to take up the NEA ECO Music Challenge in 2010. After landing herself in the top 5 most viewed in the competition, Karen was determined to reach out to other youths her age and encourage them to join her on her quest to save Mother Nature. Now at 19, she is still going strong on her journey to conserve and preserve the environment.

We sat down with Karen to find out how she discovered her love for recycling and she shared some interesting ways to recycle that is guaranteed to not bore you out. Keep reading and don’t click away!

NEA ECO Music Challenge experience

Normally, you don’t see a 13 year old girl strumming away on her guitar, writing a song about saving the environment. But Karen was different. She started writing songs at the age of 9 and utilised her talent for producing music, specifically on the guitar, to advocate about a topic she feels passionately about.

But writing a song is no easy task for any musician, much less a 13 year old girl. When asked what inspired her to write her song, she shrugged and simply answered, her love for nature.

Karen considers herself a nature lover. She often go for walks in the park where she could immerse herself in the beauty of Mother Nature to gain inspiration for her lyrics.

“I find beauty in it and I want to do what I can to preserve it. I feel like recycling is the way to go.”

Love for Recycling

I mean let’s be honest here, which 13 years old would give a damn about the environment. But a documentary on National Geographics triggered Karen to start caring a bit more about the environment.

According to Karen, the documentary featured how some landfills around the world were as big as an island.

“It was so shocking that it made me want to do something about it,” she said.

As such, Karen believed in making the earth a better place to live in by reducing waste.

Influencing Others

Having gone through the NEA ECO Music Challenge, Karen believed that she could use the power of music to influence other people to conserve the earth. With the new found responsibility of being an advocate, she needs to keep a constant clean and green image.

“It becomes a lot more for me to live up to,” she said.

Karen also encourages her family members to do their part in recycling. One of her favourite pastimes include creating DIY crafts made up of recyclable materials like plastic and paper with her 9 year old sister.

“I want her to grow up knowing the importance of recycling,” she said.

Recycling may seem like a boring job, but you can always turn it around and make it fun and enjoyable. You’ll be surprised with the kind of items you could make out of recycled materials.

Here’s an interesting tutorial on how to make a dreamcatcher using only recycled materials!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5Ji0HluWYw

Like Karen, you too have the power to save the earth.

Start easy and enjoy the process, have fun!