Students tackle carbon footprint project
MIRI: Students of SMK Lopeng Tengah here are making their school and Miri proud as they are representing Miri and Sarawak as one of 12 schools selected to participate in the national-level Toyota Eco Youth competition happening from Feb 26 until Oct 12 this year.
Calling themselves ‘ Toyota Eco Rangers’, the team led by president Nurul Syaqirah Abdul Wahab will be working on a project to reduce carbon footprints.
“Carbon footprints are the amount of carbon dioxide and other carbon compounds emitted due to the consumption of fossil fuels by a particular person, group, etc.
“Our main intention is that apart from participating in the competition, we want to educate people who do not realise that carbon dioxide is emitted in the process of purifying of water and generating electricity,” Nurul Syaqirah told The Borneo Post.
With the motto ‘ Better
Carbon footprints are the amount of carbon dioxide and other carbon compounds emitted due to the consumption of fossil fuels by a particular person, group, etc.
Environment, Better Tomorrow’, the team believes disseminating information helps create awareness that can make a better future for humanity, and that through the project, they can create a better future for the generations to come.
The team has six main members and 20 supporting members with each member holding a vital position in the team, Nurul Syaqirah said.
“As we have decided to do a project based on carbon footprints, we have decided to fi nd a way to reduce electricity and water usage, for which we have targeted BEM On The Rock Church as the site of our project.”
She added that the team will be collaborating with various organisations and agencies including Miri City Council’s LA 21, Department of Environment, Sarawak Energy Berhad ( SEB) and Taiwan Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation Malaysia ( Miri Liaison) to conduct the project.
“On top of that, we will also be conducting public speeches, exhibitions and other programmes,” she said.
“To create awareness, we as the participating team should be the leading example. Hence, as much as we have spoken about efforts to make a difference to the environment, we have also voluntarily started to practise saving water and electricity at home.
“We strongly believe that if everyone, especially those who start young (would adopt such practices), it could make a huge difference to the environment and will be able to create a better
Nurul Syaqirah Abdul Wahab, ‘Toyota Eco Rangers’ president
world,” she said.
Toyota Eco Youth is a national environmental education programme organised yearly by UMW Toyota Motor with the collaboration of the Ministry of Education since its inception in 2001.
To date, there are 233 schools with more than 1,700 students from all corners of the country who have participated in the programme.
Among the objectives of the programme are to help raise awareness and sensitivity amongst students and teachers towards the environment and related current issues.
It also aims to enable students to gain a variety of experiences and acquire a set of values and feelings of concern for the environment and its associated issues and problems.
The participating teams will be evaluated based on onsite judging (40 per cent), presentation (20 per cent), exhibition (20 per cent), and website (20 per cent).
Coordinating teachers also play a huge role as advisors to support and guide the team. The best teacher will be selected as the ‘Most Supportive Teacher’ at the end of the competition.