MANGALURU: Catch them young, and watch them go green... Keeping this motto in mind, Kittel Memorial High School, Gorigudda, in Mangaluru, decided to celebrate its 40th anniversary with 40 eco-friendly programmes, and make a meaningful start to its conservation campaign.
For this, the school roped in an alumnus, Jayaprakash Yekkur, a member of the National Environment Care Federation and conservation enthusiast from Mangaluru. Jayaprakash came up with 40 eco-friendly initiatives for effective management of plastic and garbage, to make young minds aware about environment.
Diana Jyothi Frank, school headmistress, said the high school was started in 1982 by Reverend J L Sadananda, and as many as 400 ex-students from 40 batches participated in the 40th year celebrations. It was Jayaprakash and his schoolmates Yogini, Prathap, Padmanabha, Chethan, Bhojaraj, Naveen, Taranath and Saritha Shetty who searched for the addresses of schoolmates for eight months, and succeeded in locating them.
The programme was launched by visiting houses and distributing pamphlets. Students and staff visited 24 schools in and around the district and held an awareness programme on making eco-friendly paper, pens and pamphlets, with 30 questions on conservation of nature. Under this initiative, the school could reach out to over 1,500 children directly.
The second initiative was on keeping surroundings clean. The students stood for two hours on two days, holding placards, at Valencia, to raise awareness on the ills of dumping waste in public. Former students made 100 eco bricks, which were used to make benches. These and other such programmes gave children a fresh insight into eco-friendly resources. An eye donation drive was also organised.
The school distributed eco-friendly plates for meals and clothes instead of tissue papers. The guests were given tender coconut water in steel glasses, bananas and a paper pen. Not a single plastic item was used at the event, in keeping with the plan to use only naturally available things.
“Children learn whatever is taught in schools. So I decided to make them aware about protecting the environment. This is the ideal time to teach them to conserve the environment. The response was positive and I will continue this initiative in all government schools,” he said.
“We also held a paper pen making programme at Padma Shri awardee Harekala Hajabba’s school. Hajabba joined us in our initiative and planted a sapling and kickstarted the training,” said Jayaprakash.
At the end of the campaign, the students learnt not to waste food and water, use cloth bags, use both sides of paper, plant as many saplings as possible, use public transport, wash vehicles with a wet cloth, stop using plastic water bottles, and many such small lessons which will contribute to a big change.
Anti-plastic crusader
Jayaprakash has been creating awareness on the harmful effects of plastic for the last two years and campaigning for the use of eco-friendly cloth bags.
Jayaprakash, who runs a laundry shop near Kankanady, used to conduct a unique campaign on his bike every Sunday for a plastic-free society, holding placards with a message on the harmful effects of plastic on the environment. He intends to sell cloth bags with a container inside as an alternative to plastic bags. He has also held an eye donation campaign where 80 people have pledged to donate their eyes.