Teaching her wards to go green

CHENNAI: This year, Ananya, a class IV student of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan in T Nagar, plans to do something different for Navaratri. Instead of giving the traditional tamboolam to people dropping in to see her kolu (array of dolls kept for the festive season), she will be handing out saplings.
Like Ananya, many other students in the school are now thinking green.All due to their teacher Radha Balasubramanian, who has been spearheading environmental activities in the school. She's even formed her own group of green warriors, Rainbow Warriors.
"Last year, four students who wanted to initiate an environmental project in school approached me," says Radha, a class I teacher who also takes vedic heritage classes. So she sat down with them and came up with concepts like gifting saplings, usually rose or hibiscus, in recycled paper bags to students on their birthdays. "The bag has a message on either side. One tells you why you shouldn't use plastic and its impact on the environment and the other gives you a list of things and how long they take to degrade." The message, written in the form of a poem, reaches out to children, she believes.
In 2008, she formed the Rainbow Warriors, a group of students interested in environmental issues. "According to legend, there will come a time when the earth grows sick. And when it does, a group of people, who call themselves the Rainbow Warriors, will gather to work and heal it," says Radha, who adds that none of her efforts could have been successful without the support of the school and Mrs YGP, dean and director of the school.
Radha and her warriors have been working to curb the use of plastic. The students put up charts talking about hazardous waste, not just in school but also in neighbourhood shops.
The main focus being the school, Radha roped in students to conduct a survey. "We found that 800-odd children bring their swimsuits in a plastic cover every week," says Abhinaya Swaminathan, a Rainbow Warrior. So Radha and her students met a jute manufacturer. "Since it's for a good cause, he agreed to supply us with jute bags with food-grade lining, which makes them water resistant," says Radha. The bags, which are usually priced between Rs 150 and Rs 175, are available to students for Rs 50. "We launched it on Thursday at school and 600 students opted to buy them," says Radha, who believes that the best way to raise environmental awareness is to catch them young. "It's easy to inculcate ideas when they are young, it becomes a habit," she says. "What's more they also influence the decisions their parents make."
"My teacher convinced me that even I can make a difference," says Abhinaya. "Now I am more conscious about the kind of products I use and the consequences it can have."