Kuala Lumpur, October 19, 2016 – Treat Every Environment Special (TrEES) and Procter & Gamble Malaysia (P&G) through their innovative home-to-school recycling and advocacy campaign, Pahlawan Planet, yielded a combined weight of 134,400 kg of recyclables across Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Putrajaya and Negeri Sembilan. 35 selected secondary schools out of the initial 53 schools, exceeded the campaign target by reaching out to 22,947 households within two months.
The Pahlawan Planet campaign was an integral part of TrEES Young Voices for Conservation 2016, which was approved by the Ministry of Education as a national level co-curriculum programme for secondary schools and supported by the Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government. The campaignwas designed for secondary school students to educate, cultivate and reinforce a culture of caring for the environment by embracing the 4Rs (Rethink, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle) at home and in school.
Through the campaign, the students learned that any small action can contribute significantly in reducing their impact and ecological footprint. The total recyclables collected through the campaign was equivalent to saving 3.24 million litres of water, 569,951 kWH of energy and 205,877 litres of oil. The paper collection of 122,300 kg also saved 2,078 trees that can absorb 13,893 kg of carbon dioxide and produce enough oxygen for 6,235 people each year.
“The Pahlawan Planet campaign reinforced P&G’s commitment to sustainability by empowering students as advocates and effective role models to protect the environment and reduce waste to landfill in Malaysia. More importantly, students who participated have gained skills beyond the classroom and the campaign can be implemented independently by the schools in the future to continue this sustainable lifestyle,” said Nadiah Syed Nahar, Communications and Government Relations Leader, P&G Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei.
Based on their overall performance throughout the campaign execution, 23 schools were selected to advance to the final stage. At this stage the student project teams were required to make a presentation to a panel of independent judges. To determine the overall winners, the schools were then assessed on different aspects of their recycling collection, implementation of their recycling projects and outreach campaigns, report writing, financial reporting, communications as well as their presentations to the judges.
“TrEES Young Voices for Conservation challenges students to think about our impact on planet Earth and our future. TrEES’ partnership with P&G Malaysia enhanced the scope of the programme through the Pahlawan Planet campaign. While this is a competition, the emphasis is on uniting to save our planet. The 630 student team members from 35 schools motivated 22,947 households to begin reducing and recycling their wastes. The quality of their work throughout the programme has been outstanding. We are extremely proud of each and every one of them,” said Leela Panikkar, Director, TrEES.
SMK Agama Putrajaya was named the Pahlawan Planet champion. The winning school received a cash prize of RM3,700. The panel of judges was impressed by the student project team’s effort to motivate their community members to recycle and practice the 4Rs as well as their overall commitment to the campaign.
“Our school’s success is due to a combination of teamwork, sound strategies, high proficiencies and positive attitudes. The campaign brought together all the stakeholders including the administrators, teachers, support staff, students and parents. The students’ attitude towards things that are thrown away has also changed; they no longer see waste as something disgusting but as materials that must be recycled, reused, and can even provide opportunities for sources of income. The SMK Agama Putrajaya community is determined to make our success as Pahlawan Planet Champions as the first step towards making our school a ‘green school’ in the near future,” said Tuan Haji Othman bin Hashim, Principal of SMK Agama Putrajaya.
SMK Dengkil placed second and won RM3,300 while SMK Taman Jasmin 2 placed third and won RM3,000. In addition, three special merit prizes worth RM1,500 each were awarded to SMK King George V, SMK Taman Desa 2 and SMK Cheras Jaya.
The total amount paid to the 35 selected schools for the recyclables collected was RM37,497.30. Monies received by the schools will be used to improve their greening efforts and activities within each school.
