On the road to a green future
About 1,500 students from kindergarten to Prathom 4 were striving yesterday to complete a 105-metre-long, four-metre-wide road made of 5,000 empty milk cartons in Kanchanaburi's Muang district.
"I've cut, cleaned and collect-ed used school milk cartons and other beverages to make this first and longest recycled road today," beamed Kanthamanee Klomkleng, an eager fourth-grader from Wat Chai Chumphon School.The children seemed to be enjoying themselves while learning about recycling. "Recycling Day - Making Records for Recycled Road Stimulation" involved students from 78 Kanchanaburi schools as part of a campaign to promote recycling among Thai children. The event was organised by Tetra Pak (Thai), a large packaging company for beverages, in collaboration with the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, local educational zone offices and Gaew Grung Thai. Besides the longest recycled road, student representatives - wearing costumes made of used cartons and other recycled materials - proudly presented their stage performances under the theme of "Thai Children Love Recycling". Tetra Pak communications and public-affairs manager Tapanee Junhom said the project was aimed at educating children about environmental conservation and teaching them the benefits of recycling. "About six million empty school milk cartons are thrown away as garbage every day. Tetra Pak realises the severity of the environmental crisis, so we have many ongoing activities to raise Thai children's awareness," she said. After being measured and weighed, all of the cartons were collected by Gaew Grung Thai and sent to a paper mill for recycling. Tapanee said the campaign, which began in August and runs until next February, would also be implemented in five other provinces: Sa Kaew, Buri Ram, Surin, Amnat Charoen and Ubon Ratchathani. Sunida Panbchun, a teacher at Suksa Songkhro Phanom Thuan School, said that after the students were taught about the proper way to cut, clean and collect used drinking cartons for recycling, most students and teachers became far more aware of the importance of recycling. She said that, as a result, the school had become cleaner, and the children eagerly collected the cartons without teachers having to order or motivate them. "I'll keep on collecting beverage cartons, and I'll tell others, including my family, to do the same," said fourth-grader Kanthamanee, summing up the project's success. Ninnete Surarat The Nation Kanchanaburi
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