Enriching young minds about environment through 'Green Films'

New Delhi, Apr 25 (UNI) ''From now onwards I will plant many trees near my house. May be I can save the environment then,'' said Class VIth student of Tagore International Urvashi Gupta after watching 'Green Films' at PVR Priya here today.

In an unique effort to promote awareness and education on environmental issues, PVR Nest, a Corporate Social Responsibility of PVR Ltd, in participation with Agilent Technologies and film partners who produce green films like Earth Matters Foundation, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), today announced the launch of 'Green Films' as part of their environmental initiative.

Short docu-dramas like Ozzy Ozone (Ozone ki kahani-Ozzy ki zubani), Thar: Marubhumi Ke Chamatkar , What is Greenhouse Effect? (Kya Hai Green House Prabhav?) and Water: Rainwater Harvesting (Boondo ki Sanskriti) were screened at PVR Priya here to address a myriad of environmental issues like Global Warming, Greenhouse Effect and Water Conservation among students of the privileged and the lesser privileged groups.

About 1000 students, in the age group of 12-14, from various government and private schools like PVR Childscapes, Literacy India, Tagore Interanational, Bloom Public School , Katha Khazana and others participated in the unique initiative. To remove language as a barrier for the lesser privileged children, the films had been dubbed in Hindi especially for them.

UNICEF Chief Education Officer Samphe D Lhalungpa, present on the occasion to express solidarity to the noble initiative, said, ''All great changes happen in mind. Children being the future of this planet, who better then they, can carry forward the cause of preserving the environment.'' When asked as to what age he thinks is apt for imparting lessons on environmental issues to students, he told UNI, ''There is no particular age or standard for making children aware of the environment. They should be made aware of the importance of nature and environment as early as possible and it is the combined responsibility of their parents, the society and teachers to do so.'' ''Environmental awareness should be an attitude and culture and not just lessons,'' Mr Lhalungpa added.

Discussing the concept of Green Films, COO PVR Cinemas, Amitabh Vardhan said, ''This programme will facilitate understanding of key environmental issues while providing an opportunity to create a classless community, in a simple yet entertaining way through films.'' On the follow up programme of the intiative, Manager, PVR Nest Deepa Menon said, ''Much needs to be done before the follow up and this initiative is one such endeavour. However, we would be organising various environment related activities in schools as well. We plan to reach to about 5000 students across India and will be showcasing 'Green Films' in Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai apart from Delhi in the recent future to make the most important target group within our society, the Children, aware of environment.'' In a paradigm shift from what they learnt through various definitions in school, students were able to relate to the screening in an enhanced way and relate better to what they had been taught.

UNI