Erdan, Landau lead Earth Day activities in schools
04/22/2012 15:08
"Every drop of electricity or energy, which increasingly being wasted in vain, also counts," Netanyahu says.
Gilad Erdan at Ein Gedi Photo: Courtesy
Led by Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan, ministry officials taught lessons at high school schools throughout the country on Sunday, in honor of Earth Day.
The lessons, which occurred in 20 high schools, focused on the environmental condition of the Earth at large as well as Israel in particular, according to the ministry. Erdan himself taught a lesson at Harel High School in Mevasseret Zion at 8:30 a.m.
Among the issues that were discussed in each of the lessons included deforestation, species extinction, population density and how to integrate environmental considerations with economic growth, according to the ministry. Students received pieces of data to encourage their recycling behaviors, such as the fact that in one year, Israel produces about 1,850 soccer fields worth of garbage, measured at a one meter height.
"Environmental education is an education of Zionist values that connects the young generation to the environment in which they live and causes them to think and act for the future," said Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan, in a statement released by his office.
Energy and Water Minister Uzi Landau likewise took part in educating young people on environmental awareness on Sunday, teaching seventh graders at the Israel Goldstein Youth Village (Havat HaNoar HaTzioni) in Jerusalem. The minister, who would go on to deliver similar lessons in classrooms around the country on Sunday, taught the children about the use of solar energy, told them how electricity plants operate and explained ways to save energy, according to his office.
In addition to both Erdan and Landau, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu also acknowledged the occurrence of Earth Day, opening Sunday's cabinet meeting with some words about the occasion. While Earth Day's symbolic nature does not solve the world's environmental problems, it does encourage commitment on a global basis, the prime minister noted.
"When I was a child there was a slogan – 'every drop counts' – and when Israeli children saw dripping faucets they closed them," Netanyahu said, according to his office. "So every drop of electricity or energy, which is increasingly being wasted in vain, also counts. I ask Israeli citizens to join in this blessed initiative, Israel's entrance into the green revolution, a most positive revolution that also produces new industries."