“Green Escape” is a project conducted by Rota-Tomorrow-2.0 Team 01: “INSPIRO” with the prime intention of creating awareness about terrestrial ecosystems around us and becoming a change to make a green escape for the betterment of terrestrial ecosystem. Here, the main attempt was to create awareness about terrestrial ecosystems and to make a strong, positive relationship between the young generation and terrestrial ecosystems.
Social media has become a part and parcel of the present-day lifestyle. Team INSPIRO utilized social media as a tool to promote awareness about the terrestrial ecosystem in a much faster way and to a large mass within a very short period. We have launched a Facebook page exclusively for the project “Green Escape” aiming to interact with the community. Mainly, we maintained this Facebook page to create awareness among people and provide the latest updates about our project. A series of flyers containing reasons for the degradation of terrestrial ecosystems were shared via WhatsApp to reach out to a wider audience. In addition, we released a video on YouTube to spread awareness about terrestrial ecosystems and how to improve the quality of terrestrial ecosystems by implementing those methods in our own home gardens. The resource person for this informative video was Prof. U.P.K. Epa of the Department of Zoology and Environmental Management, Faculty of Science, University of Kelaniya.
Teaching good deeds during the childhood provides the tools to succeed at their best as an adult. We encouraged children to express their ideas about terrestrial ecosystems and the ways of protecting them by organizing an art competition for students of Thelangapatha Sri Rathnapala Maha Vidyalaya, Wattala. We have received 63 drawings, and our team selected best 15 drawings as three winners per grade. As an appreciation, valuable certificates were given for all the winners, while their drawings have been published on our FB page along with their names and grades.
The Department of Agri Input of the Ministry of Agriculture, Battaramulla donated 200 packets of seeds to be distributed among the community. During the seed distribution session, Thelangapatha Sri Rathnapala Maha Vidyalaya, Luurdu Children’s Home, and villagers from the hometowns of team members received seed packets. On April 18, 2022, at the Luurdu Children’s Home in Malkaduwawa, Kurunegala, as a part of the physical phase of the project, we held an awareness session about how to ensure the safety of our terrestrial ecosystems. In addition to that, a tree plantation campaign was also held with the assistance of residents of the children’s home, as it will contribute to the betterment of the environment.
We had a lot of entertainment events with those children to create a friendly environment, which was followed by a small treat prepared by us. We are humbled to be a reason for them to smile. The project was successfully completed as a result of the great effort of our talented team members, leaving us with long-lasting memories.
~Written by: Rtr. Dimithri Premarathne | Featured image designed by: Rtr. Hashan Koonara~
