Speech on World Environment Day (5 June)
Respected Principal, teachers and my dear friends,
Good morning. Today we have gathered to celebrate World Environment Day, which is observed every year on 5th June. It was established by the United Nations in 1972, at the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment, to remind every person on Earth that the environment is our shared home and we must protect it.
Our environment gives us clean air, fresh water, fertile soil and food. Yet we are damaging it every day. Forests are being cut, rivers are being polluted with waste and plastic, and the air in our cities is full of smoke and dust. Because of this, the Earth is getting warmer, rainfall is becoming irregular and many plants and animals are disappearing.
Friends, protecting the environment is not only the government's job. Each of us can make a difference with small habits:
- Plant a tree and take care of it until it grows.
- Say no to single-use plastic and carry a cloth bag.
- Switch off lights and fans when not in use, and save water.
- Walk, cycle or use public transport for short distances.
- Separate wet and dry waste, and reduce, reuse and recycle.
If every student in this school follows even one of these habits, together we can save thousands of litres of water and many kilograms of plastic every year.
Let us not celebrate Environment Day for just one day. Let us make every day an Environment Day. Remember, we have not inherited the Earth from our ancestors; we have borrowed it from our children.
Let us take a pledge today to keep our school, our city and our planet clean and green. Thank you.