By TRN Online, Kathmandu, Jan 3: Embassy of Israel in Kathmandu has initiated environment conservation activity in cooperation with the schools in Kathmandu.

"Celebrating Earth Day- Every day, the Embassy of Israel initiated an Environment Conservation Activity under a slogan, “Stop Pollution: Used Batteries Collection” in cooperation with schools in Kathmandu," the embassy said in its press release issued on Monday.

 The goal of the project is to contribute to environmental pollution mitigation measures.

Batteries contain a number of heavy metals and toxic chemicals and disposing of them in the same manner as we dispose of regular household waste creates serious concerns over soil contamination, water pollution, air pollution and hence, affecting human lives and our planet.

The Embassy of Israel cooperated with schools of the valley including Kathmandu Pragya Kunja School, Shanti Sikshya School, KMC School, Kavya School, etc. in reducing pollution with individual steps of their students; the students collected used batteries (alkaline batteries, coin cell batteries and other non-rechargeable batteries), brought it to the school, which later were taken for recycling at DOKO Recyclers, according to the press release.

Today, an event was held at Kathmandu Pragya Kunja School to hand over collected used batteries with an important message of responsibility of an individual step towards a cleaner environment. The jars of batteries were collected and handed over to DOKO Recyclers.

"Ramsahay Prasad Yadav, Minister of Forests and Environment, graced the ceremony," read the press release.

“This activity is very much important in today’s time. Human activities are hampering themselves, flora, fauna and nature, as a whole. This initiative will definitely contribute to environmental protection, as batteries are something that is used in everything, ranging from mobile phones, computers to other electronic devices hence, it’s crucial to recycle them," the press release quoted the Minister as saying.

Hanan Goder, Ambassador of Israel to Nepal said, “Our planet is one. The natural treasures of Nepal are too important for us to neglect. Israel is proud to be a part of this environmental initiative.”

Welcoming the guests to the program, Kapil Dev Regmi, Director of the school, highlighted the bilateral cooperation between Israel and Nepal in education and agriculture mentioning the training to Nepali educationists in Israel. 

Leading the joint actions for the environment conservation, the Embassy is hopeful to spread a message that we need to dispose of waste in a proper manner and it is a responsibility of each individual to take care of our natural world for the better today and tomorrow, read the press release.