On the morning of 27th February 2019, 93 students from Mavinakatte Government Primary School came to FSL-India’s Centre for Experiential Living with 3 teachers and their principal. The group was formed by the students of 6th and 7th standards, who came with the purpose of participating in an environmental awareness session.

The group arrived with a big poster that stated “Make It Green” in Kannada. FSL-India welcomed them, and they all sat down in the meeting hall. After a short introduction on the topic of global warming, some long term volunteers, together with FSL-India’s Field Officers Manjesh and Manju showed a video that explained in a simple, but clear way what global warming is. After some discussion and clarifications, the staff could ask some questions to the children, who were highly participative in the discussion.

Secondly, the students watched a video about where all the plastic we dispose of goes, followed by another one that showed the difficulties for sea turtles to nest and to reach the water near beaches covered by plastic pollution. It was a very shocking and emotional video, which raised the awareness of the students. Another discussion took place, this time giving ideas on how to reduce the use of plastic, how to reuse the ones we already have, and what individual actions can each of us do for this problem.

After that, the last video talked about the harm caused by pesticides. It showed what is their use, what are the different impacts on the nature and on people’s health, and it also explained how it can break the natural cycle, affecting all types of animal life. A final discussion took place, where all the main ideas were highlighted, such as planting trees, using cycles, or going on foot instead of using vehicles, reducing the amount of plastic we purchase, lowering the amount of energy at home, using dust bins properly to avoid beach and ocean pollution

The FSL-India staff showed the students a video demonstrating the procedure to create eco bricks with plastic, and to build benches with them. The students could see one eco brick and they were very interested in the whole idea.

Finally, everyone had juice and some biscuits, and a group photo was taken. It was a very interesting morning for everyone and from FSL-India, we are happy to host local students in our CEL, and to spread awareness through the youth, who are our future. Moreover, the students and teachers’ interest and involvement was great, so they came back to school very happily.

Finally, everyone had juice and some biscuits, and a group photo was taken. It was a very interesting morning for everyone and from FSL-India, we are happy to host local students in our CEL, and to spread awareness through the youth, who are our future. Moreover, the students and teachers’ interest and involvement was great, so they came back to school very happily.