World Environment Day (WED) is an annual event held on June 5, aimed at being the biggest, most widely celebrated international day for positive environmental action.
WED
activities take place all year around and encourages global participation. In commemoration
of World Environment Day 2012, the Ministry of the Environment and Water
Resources, as the national focal point for several Environmental Conventions,
initiated several activities in various schools located within the vicinity of
the EPPD’s El Socorro Offices.
The EPPD, in
partnership with Recycling in Motion (RIM), the project facilitator, aimed to
raise the awareness of environmentally sustainable
habits in school populations by helping them to reduce some of the municipal waste they create. In this regard, the Ministry initiated plastic recycling programmes in several schools.
The importance of recycling was also impressed upon students by an interactive presentation session by Ms Nalini Sooklal, Waste Management Specialist of the EPPD. Students were informed that recycling activities can reduce the need for
raw materials used to produce new products; reduce the amounts of waste going
into our landfills and also reduce energy consumption, thereby preserving
natural resources for the future.
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| EPPD staff members with students of the El Socorro Hindu School |
Over a three day
period spanning September 26-28, 2012, the El Socorro Hindu, El Socorro
North Government and El Socorro South Government primary schools as well as the
Barataria South Secondary School launched their plastic recycling endeavours,
which was met with great enthusiasm from both staff and students alike. The El
Socorro Islamia TIA School was also included in the exercise and a Green Space
initiative was pioneered at this school. This was aimed at inculcating into
students an appreciation of the intrinsic values of green spaces whilst
introducing to them basic cultivation practices.
Overall, it is
hoped that these initiatives would not only have tangible environmental
benefits but also create environmentally aware and responsible young citizens
as well.
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| The excited faces of students from the El Socorro North Government School |
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