The World Environment Day is being celebrated across the globe today, but leaving these few select occasions how many of us actually think about doing something substantial to help protect the earth? Many of us may have talked, read or even delivered speeches about how to save the environment, but only a few do their bit to make a
difference. With rising pollution and global warming even though the future of the earth looks bleak, there is a silver lining. Many youngsters are now taking up the responsibility of saving their surroundings and trying to bring in a positive change in the attitude of people.
Many youngsters have started green clubs in their school and neighbourhood to promote the idea of green and clean earth. Parth Aggarwal, a student at Modern School, Vasant Vihar tells, “We have a green brigade group in our school, in which students voluntarily participate in various activities related to environment. We have a recycling paper programme, a green fair and cleaning drives every year to spread the message.”
Samarth Chaudhry, a Class 12 student, says, “In our school we have formed a group of 40-50 children to raise awareness about environment-related issues. From time to time we collaborate with NGOs and participate in cleaning drives, plantations and conduct eco-friendly workshops for students. Even in our daily activities we try to cut down on fuel and prefer car pooling or cycling for short distances.”
It’s not necessary to do something big initially; even small starts can make a big difference. Righul Aggarwal, a Class 9 student from Genesis Global School, has his own small garden in the backyard, which he feels is his contribution to the environment. He says, “I have planted my own garden in my house and I have eight plants and five trees now. I have been taking care of it since I was seven and I plan to get more plants in future. I also recycle water and manure in this garden.”
Vimelendu Jha, founder of Swechha NGO, informs that in the past 10 years he has worked with around 250 lakh young volunteers from various schools and colleges. He says, “We recently conducted a campaign called ‘Spotted’ to recycle waste in the city. There are around 30-40 thousand students in the capital alone who are involved in various environment-related activities. It’s great to see youngsters taking up the responsibility of saving our planet.”