A few weeks ago, I went to Colombo in Sri Lanka to take part in a tournament. Our family stayed in a hotel in Mount Lavinia, Colombo opposite to Sea Beach. Every day morning, during our walk, I used to see a bunch of well-built young persons exercising on the beach. They were very dedicated & punctual.

I met them & enquired. They were from Sri Lanka Air Force – Sports Team. They used to represent their country at national & international levels. The daily work out was a regular part of their training.

Sri Lanka is rich in natural resources & these people are from very prominent organization which represents a class. Therefore it is very important for them to be environmentally aware.

Being a responsible Eco-Generation Regional Ambassador from the Middle East I considered it my duty to enlighten them about environment & also to introduce them to Tunza Eco-Generation so that they can care for the environment & appreciate the efforts of international youth towards conservation, preservation & spreading awareness about environment.

After their morning jogging routine I assembled them & first enquired them about how aware they are towards the local environmental issues.

They replied that their country makes a greater effort to conserve its environment as compared with other South Asian Nations. But current challenges for environmental conservation are deforestation, Garbage & pollution, soil erosion, wildlife poaching, coastal degradation, and mangrove reduction. During the past 200 years country has dwindled the major forest cover, Pollution has risen many folds, Garbage segregation is at its inception.

As they were aware about the challenges & hurdles I felt it is very important to introduce them about Tunza Eco-Generation and the efforts they can take at individual level, with their families and at the community level. Considering this in mind I conducted an interactive session with them & addressed them. The gist of the same is given below:

INDIVIDUAL LEVEL:

1.     Introduction to 3 R?s, Reduce, Reuse & Recycle.

2.     Keeping the surroundings clean by disposing wisely.

3.     In the offices, paper can be segregated easily as it is a lot of quantity. Specially shredded paper can be recycled easily.

4.     To use both the sides of paper for internal correspondence.

5.     Encourage others by leading with an example.

FAMILY LEVEL:

1.     Initiating the segregation of waste at home. House waste consists of Food waste (that can be reduced & recycled), Paper ( That can be easily be accumulated & submitted for recycling), Plastic (can be reused or may be avoided)

2.     Take Jute bags to the grocery instead of carrying plastic bags.

3.     Wash clothes in washing machine with full load instead of at half load.

COMMUNITY LEVEL

1.     Spread the word about Tunza Eco-Generation so that others can look & learn from the reports of youth around the world.

2.     While in group of family & friends discuss & explore about the ideas of environment conservation. Tell them about your initiatives so that they may be motivated & encouraged.

While introducing them about Tunza Eco-Generation I distributed the leaflets, my business cards & other goodies received from Tunza Eco-Generation.

It was a memorable session with the Sri Lanka Air Force – Sports Team. They were humbled & promised to take care in future.

After the serious part of our I joined them for their morning exercise routine activities. It was a great fun in exercising with them. I also learned a few tips on being fit & healthy.

It was a morning well spent. I felt satisfied about enlightening the Sri Lankan elite about the environment & Tunza Eco-Generation