(VOVworld) – In response to the “Earth Hour” campaign on March 29, the American Club will organize a “Turn off the light” gala and a grant ceremony will be held at the August Revolution square in Hanoi, with the participation of hundreds of young people. Young people in the capital city have also engaged in various activities to protect the environment and minimize the impact of climate change.

The campaign “I will if you will” and the innovative ideas contest “Turn off the lights, turn on the ideas” are two major activities organized by young people from the project “Boo Environment”, initiated by the Boo Fashion Company. The project, which has been implemented in some schools in Hanoi, has turned environmental protection slogans into practical action. Tong Dieu Quynh is a member of Boo Environment.  “At schools, Boo has encouraged pupils to collect recycled items and unused household utensils. We sell them to get money for a forest reforestation fund. We have challenged each school to plant 400 trees and many schools have exceeded that number.”

Boo Environment has also called on enterprises to cooperate in environmental protection activities. Quynh again: “Boo has worked with Nokia to collect old hand phones. For every hand phone, Nokia will plant a mangrove tree in Hue’s mangrove forest and name the tree under the donor. Nokia has promised us that we can position the trees with our names by the global positioning system.”   

An environmenal protection innovative idea at the contest "turn off the light, turn on the ideas"

Boo Environment has instructed pupils to recycle their old stuff and sell them. Ngo Thuy Trang of Tran Phu school said: “This is the first time I have planted a small mangrove tree. I’m so happy because my friends and I have contributed in small part to protect the environment. I hope we can plant more trees next year and the trees we plant will grow quickly to make the environment fresh and clean.”

One week prior to the Earth Hour campaign, 350 Vietnam, an environmental conservation organization at the Hanoi University of Foreign Trade, launched the “Mini library” program at Doan Thi Diem primary and Ngo Sy Lien Secondary schools. The students presented basic knowledge of climate change through short video clips, slide shows and interactive games. Nguyen Ngoc Linh, Vice President of 350 Vietnam’s northern branch, said: “The school’s management boards and teachers have introduced the program to the pupils. We then organized a big exchange. The pupils should bring 10 books to change for a small tree. The books will be donated to a library for poor children in Hai Phong city. We received over 6,000 books, which was far more than our expectation of 2,000 to 3,000 books.”

The pupils have contributed to making their own environment clean and green by planting trees while sharing their books with their disadvantaged peers. 

Young people’s innovations and enthusiasm have contributed practically to environmental protection activities and inspired others to work together for a greener world.