Republica talked to the top five project leaders about their journey into environment conservation and their opinion on what youth in general can do to safeguard our environment. Here’s what they had to say.
“Taking care of our environment is easier than we think”
Honestly, I wasn’t always conscious about the environment. In my family, no one really bothered about issues like conserving environment, the need to manage waste properly, minimizing the use of natural resources, etc, so I won’t say I never did things that were not environment-friendly, but when I started understanding that we should take care of our surrounding for our own sake, I did try to minimize the wrong-doings.
Now, as a student of Environmental Science, I’m more conscious about these issues than ever. Being under the TGG mentorship program has honed my understanding even more. What youths should understand is, taking care of our environment is much easier than we think. Of course we can’t do much on the large scale and we can’t go about cleaning the mess that’s all over, but we can keep our own surrounding clean. We can stop littering. We can teach youngsters the same. If all of us did these little things on the individual level, we can definitely make a difference.
Rama Khadka, Patan Multiple Campus
“Sustainable approach is key to environment conservation”
I never really bothered about proper disposal of solid waste as a child. I’d guiltlessly throw away chocolate wrappers, or any plastic/paper waste here and there. But once I started understanding that our environment is a reflection of our personality, the issues of environment and heritage fascinated me.
So, when TGG was announced, I was really excited but I had never expected to come this far. I had been involved with Environmental Camps for Conservation Awareness (ECCA) as a counselor, and I got to work on various conservation-related issues while being associated with it. But even then, I had always been event-focused, and would consider a successful event as a great milestone towards environment conservation.
Once I became a mentee at TGG, I realized that I was being stupid. If I really want to work for the environment, being event-centric won’t work; I have to think of sustainable ways to work for the environment. My call for all youth out there is, not all of you might want to get involved in cleaning campaigns, but you can all stop littering, and you can definitely raise your voice when you see someone litter.
Bhairahawa defeats Biratnagar Warriors by four wickets
Sobit Thapa, Tribhuvan University
“Solid waste management is crucial”
I’m originally from Syangja, and back in my hometown, I wasn’t really an environmentally conscious person. The only time I even thought about the environment was during our Environment, Population and Health class in school. But when I came to Kathmandu for my higher studies, I realized that we are compromising a lot on the quality of our lives by not paying attention to the outcome of our actions to the environment.
I became more conscious of the environment when I took up Environmental Science in my undergraduate studies in college. Then I started getting involved in various activities like cleaning the Rani Pokhari area, and while we were there, we had even managed to make our college (Tri Chandra) a poster/pamphlet-free zone. Solid waste management is one of the most crucial factors degrading our environment. Each of us, particularly youths, must stop littering.
Surya Prasad Bhattarai, College of Applied Science, Anamnagar
“Embrace the concept of reuse and recycle”
I’m a student of Business Administration, and my knowledge of environment was confined to whatever I learnt about it in school. On one of my trips with friends to Shaktikhor VDC in Chitwan, I was sad to see such an exploited state of nature there.
I didn’t think I could do anything about it before being a part of TGG. As schoolchildren, I did many things that were not environment-friendly at all. Together with my classmates, if we were upset with the school administration, we’d keep the classroom fan running even when the classes got over. I knew unnecessary use of energy contributed to global warming, but I didn’t think one single fan or one light bulb could make much difference. Now I’ve become really conscious about issues like global warming and climate change.
I never forget to turn off unnecessary lights. I even remind my family members and friends to make wise use of energy. All of us youth should start embracing the concept of reuse and recycle, too.
Smriti Dhita, Sankher Dev Campus
“Awareness generation is still needed”
The best thing about being a part of TGG was the opportunity to interact with our mentor. It helped me learn a lot and hone my knowledge related to various aspects of environment. Being a student of Environmental Management, I do understand the significance of safeguarding our environment, but until high school, environmental issues hardly caught my attention.
Yes, I had heard about climate change, deforestation, different kinds of pollution, etc, but I never thought I could do anything to check that. In fact, despite so many efforts to generate awareness among people, there’s still a lot to be done to make people aware, and for this, the medium of awareness should be chosen really wisely. Besides theoretical knowledge in schools and colleges, screening environment related films and documentaries can be a really effective means to make people understand the gravity of the issue.
Youths can also be involved in different voluntary initiatives that work in the field of environment conservation. Media, in general, can play a vital role to disseminate environmental issues in an effective way, too.
Ang Dawa Sherpa, School of Environmental Science and Management (ScHEMS)
