Putuo students celebrate World Earth Day
Students at Shanghai Thomas School present an eco-house they designed.
Trees were planted and students’ environmental protection projects displayed at Shanghai Thomas School in Putuo District on Thursday, World Earth Day.
The “Innovation and Green Practices” event was organized by the Putuo District government and the Consulate General of Israel in Shanghai to inspire in young students a love of nature, awareness of environmental protection and saving resources and actions to protect the Earth.
Zhang Wuhua, the school’s chairman, said the school has embedded environmental protection into its education philosophy with various project-based programs for students to learn about and understand its importance.
“We hope this World Earth Day event can help our faculty and students better understand that protecting the Earth is to protect ourselves,” he said. “We have to take care of our home and cherish the limited resources on Earth, changing our approach to development and implementing sustainable development strategies.”
Edward Shapira, consul general of Israel in Shanghai, shared Israel’s experience and achievements in environmental protection with the school faculty and students. He said 80 percent of drinking water in Israel is desalinated sea water while 90 percent of water used in agriculture is recycled from waste water. He said Israel was keen to share its technologies and innovative ideas with other countries to protect the environment.
Wang Jue, deputy director of Putuo, said the district has spared no effort in making its sky bluer, water cleaner, land greener and scenery more beautiful. She said Putuo and Israel enjoyed much cooperation, including the China-Israel Innovation Hub, a key platform to drive innovative cooperation between the two countries, and wished the two parities to have more cooperation in the area of protecting the environment.
Officials, school administrators and guests plant a tree at the Shanghai Thomas School.
