The National Museum of Natural History organised a month long programme called “Exploring the environment” for children between the ages of 14 and 17 years. As a part of the programme 36 children visited Development Alternatives. An introductory talk about Development Alternatives was given with the help of slides. The children were surprised to see the mud walls, they commented about the shape of the dome and the stairs on which they were sitting. They were curious to discover how mud could be used to make such beautiful buildings. While they were viewing slides of mud houses constructed in different parts of the world they had a host of queries about the countries, the houses, and the architects who designed them. Almost all took copious notes. They also wanted to know whether mud walls could be made strong and how cheap these were compared to those made of concrete. The children were asked about their own feelings towards nature and whether they considered themselves its friend. A girl stated she did not feel she was as she travels by bus which contributes to polluting the atmosphere. A boy confessed he tore pages from notebooks, others said they threw waste wherever they felt like it. When told that such acts harmed nature, some gave suggestions as to how they could behave in an environment friendly manner; others said they would not do the thoughtless things they had been. When questioned about the steps they would take to create a cleaner environment starting from the home or school, the common answer was that they would not to throw the waste in public places but in dustbins. As to the manner in which the production of waste material could be reduced they did not know how to combat this problem. They were then told to follow the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Some examples were cited such as buying fewer articles than needed, lending books and clothes, and reusing polythene or plastic bags. Utilising the used thermocol box or ice cream cups for growing plants, and not wasting food were other suggestions. Next, an activity was taken up which the children can practice also on their own. They were asked to pick cards from a box made of recycled paper which had different items printed on them, and write slogans that created awareness about a healthy environment. In the beginning, the children were hesitant, but a little bit of persuasion was all that was needed to get them to participate actively. They wrote a number of slogans. Reading the card labelled polythene bag, Jyotsna of Presentation Convent wrote: Carry your bags again and again so that the earth becomes capable of carrying us. Mayank Batra of Springdales School wrote about used woollen cloth: A used woollen cloth of yours, If given safe and sound, Could save a life Whose credit would be yours. Sandeep Ganguly of K V Gole Market expressed his desire to grow plants. He wrote: Eat ice-iceream in the ice-cream cup, Plant the seedling in it, And keep the environment clean.
Mita Singhal, DPS RK Puram, brought a message to the people to be generous. Give away your old text books to other needy children and discover the joy of giving. Indrani picked a card labelled vegetable peels and wrote: Animals are better to feed than the dustbin. The next activity dealt with the technique of recycling paper which was demonstrated to the children. The apparatus comprised used empty bottles and bowls. One-and-half-pages of a newspaper was shredded and soaked in water and pound into pulp. The pulp was passed among the children; they touched it and smelt it; they observed the reactions when bleaching powder, starch, gum and dye of beetroot were mixed with the pulp. They noted with excitement how the pulp flattens into a thin even layer which later though several other process transforms into paper. The children learnt that with the paper they could make their own herbarium file (a file for dry leaves), map, figures of animals and birds, butterflies and these could be painted to bright colours. All in all the children appeared to have had a marvellous time. q |
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