In a bid to remind citizens of their responsibilities toward earth keeping for the general wellbeing of society, Miss Emmanuella Esinam Awunyo, Club Miss Tourism, has marked the day with over a thousand participants in Tema.
In a participatory engagement with some children, students, teachers, media folks and a section of the general public, the participants embarked on environmental health awareness walk with a brass band procession.
The participating schools included Nyaniba Health Assistants Training and Care Institute, Our Lady of Mercy Senior High, Presbyterian Senior High, Deks Educational Institute, Witsands International, Saint Paul, Tema Regular Baptist Academy, Christian Vertical Centre and members of the Youth for Christ in the various schools in Tema.
Some of the captions on the placards and banners read think, eat, save, preserve food, conserve water, don’t litter, let us save the environment through responsible behaviours and save the last tree.
The programme designed to engage schools and other stakeholders to appreciate the continuous need for environmentally responsible actions by all in society was part of the activities to mark the World Environment Day established in 1972 by the United Nations.
In a brief message to the over a thousand participants, Esinam spoke on the theme “Think. Eat. Save” and urged all to consider what they consume in moderation in other to preserve and avoid food waste and loss.
She said food production requires a lot of labour, time, energy and water.
She added that, the environment is polluted with fumes from tractors and the source of power for irrigation systems contributes to some pollution of the environment.
She indicated that it will make no good meaning after such inputs and resources have been applied and the world suffers increasing post harvest losses and food waste by consumers.
We all can contribute in our own small ways by avoiding food waste and eating healthy locally produced foods.
The Project Coordinator of the Environmental Health Club, Robert Amiteye spoke on the sub theme” wake- up, clean-up and green-up” in a bid to encourage participants to renew their minds towards responsible actions to improve environmental sanitation.
He demonstrated the newly introduced Innovative plastic recycle bin as a means to curtail the increasing water sachet litter in our communities.
The Innovative bin, designed by Mr. Amiteye forms part of a programme to facilitate the separation of waste in schools to promote plastic recycling. He expressed appreciation to Hon. Kofi Brako, Member of Parliament for Tema Central constituency for blessing and supporting the initiative.
He said samples of the Innovative Plastic Recycle Bin will be provided to schools as part of the programme by Hon. Kofi Brako to improve environmental sanitation and waste management within the Tema Central Constituency.
In a related development, some officers from the Ghana National Fire Service educated the participants on fire prevention and safety measures. Practical demonstrations of fire fighting techniques were displayed in a participatory engagement with the participants.
They appealed to the participants to be influence of change in their various homes and schools. “Switch off electrical gadgets and unplug them when leaving home or after use as a preventive measure”, an officer said.
The Nestle Milo brand provided Milo drinks to refresh the participants. Dosty Pharmacy aided with a supporting mini bus and Mrs. Emma Chinery was the supporting nurse for the procession. Security was provided by the Ghana Police Service, Tema District.
The Coordinator of Youth for Christ, Vida Hamphrey expressed happiness and appreciation for the peaceful programme.
