Lim Wei Chean, Straits Times 1 Nov 08;
A SET of children's textbooks about going green, published without paper, won 17-year-old Rebecca Yong Jiahui a trip to meet other like-minded environmentally aware teens.
Through the books, which will be available digitally, the Hwa Chong Institution student wants to introduce environmental issues to seven- to 12-year-olds.
She said: 'Many subjects are taught to children at a young age, important things like moral education, civic education...so why not environmental studies?'
Her entry was among 25 from Singapore this year for the Bayer Young Environmental Envoy awards that made it to a shortlist of 13 finalists.
Rebecca's idea impressed a panel of five judges so much that she was selected to be one of the top three from Singapore's final 13 to represent the country in Germany this month.
At the pharmaceutical giant's homebase, she will be among 50 young greenies from 18 countries getting together to brainstorm environmental sustainability issues.
Next year, Rebecca aims to run a mini-pilot programme in select schools and refine her books from feedback that she gets. Then, she hopes to launch the series with funds from Bayer.
Since 2001, Bayer has been recognising youth contributions as part of its corporate social responsibility initiatives, to which it commits about ¥1.2 billion (S$2.3 billion) annually.
Youngsters from 18 countries were selected to be its ambassadors at this eighth annual exchange, which is run in tandem with the United Nations Environment Programme.
Together, the programmes seek to empower youth for environmental activism.
