Article: Teaching children to be environment friendly

SOME 106 children aged seven to 12 had a whale of a time painting their interpretation of greening the earth to mark World Environment Day recently.

The children from St Joseph’s Home and Ramakrishna Ashrama were also taught to value life and the environ-ment at the event organised by Kolej Disted-Stamford with the cooperation of Penang Children’s Library and Consumers Association of Penang (CAP).

Kolej Disted’s assistant librarian Fairunizan Akbar Malik said the contest, themed ‘Bring Back the Green’, was primarily aimed at encouraging the children to be eco-conscious and environment-friendly.

“By getting young children to care for the environment, we are nurturing a new generation of eco-warriors to protect the earth,” she said.

Penang Children’s Library assistant librarian Siti Khatijah Osman said the event encouraged the children to mingle with students from other schools and helped foster goodwill among the children and parents from various communities.

CAP’s education officer Saraswathi Devi gave a talk cum demonstration on organic farming using vermi- compost.

“A step towards greening the environment is to teach the children on ways to recycle organic waste and grow a plant,” said Saraswathi, who taught them how to use earthworms to make vermi-compost.

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Metro: North 8 July 2008