Toluca, Mexico - A student from Toluca, Mexico State, is one of 20 finalists in the United Nations global youth video competition.
Andrea Sofía Rosales Vega, a student at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México (UAEM), was one of 1,500 students who submitted a three-minute video highlighting climate change activities being undertaken by youth around the world.
Rosales, 20, is a member of EcoUrban, an environmental project created by UAEM students that has developed the Una tapa por una vida ("a lid for a life") program in which the students gather used PET plastic and sell it to a recycling plant. The funds obtained are used to support several local organizations dedicated to fighting cancer and supporting children living with it.
The program also sells shirts and other clothing made from recycled plastic. The NGO collaborates with several local artists and designers to create a clothing collection that promotes social ecological awareness.
The funds obtained from the sale of shirts, hoodies, backpacks and caps are then reinvested by EcoUrban to set up more plastic collection centers.
Rosales made the "lid for a life" program the focus of her video and is now awaiting to see if it generates enough views to send her to Poland.
As of Saturday morning, it had been viewed 13,522 times.
"I invite everyone to support this project and to be socially responsible, to be aware of our footprint on the planet, of the impact we have over it. We have an obligation to leave a different world," she said.
El Financiero article translated and edited by Mexico News Daily.