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This week a student-led environmental campaign will receive a World Youth Summit Award in New York City. The Colour Me Green campaign uses the internet as an organizing tool to recruit youth to create more environmentally sustainable schools and communities.

By Paromita Pain

While not every student in Malaysia has his or her own computer, Stanley Liew, the 19-year-old founder of an environmental campaign for youth says he has “yet to meet another youth who is not on Facebook.” That’s why he conducts the Colour Me Green Campaign using online platforms like Facebook, Twitter and blogs. The Web-based campaign encourages youth in Malaysia to be active participants in creating environmental sustainability within communities.

For his efforts to make the world a greener place, Liew will travel to New York City on September 21 to receive a World Summit Youth Award, which recognizes the innovative use of technology for projects that work toward the UN Millennium Development Goals. In the case of Colour Me Green, that would be the goal of environmental sustainability.

Liew is a student at Kolej Tuanku Jaafar, a boarding school south of Kuala Lumpur. He was motivated to start the Colour Me Green campaign after the 2009 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen failed to produce results. Deciding he could not rely on world leaders to make change, he decided to take personal responsibility for repairing the damage of climate change.

 “We need to take action by making changes in our own lives just like Michael Jackson's who sang ‘I’m starting with the man in the mirror’,” says Liew.

Launched in February of this year, the campaign is truly a youth-powered endeavour. Liew notes that Colour Me Green has a faculty advisor, but otherwise the activities are driven by students. The objective is to encourage high school and college students around the country to join the campaign along with their schools. Of course, Liew’s own school is leading the way.

“In the past year students have done a huge range of work from campaigning at shopping malls to organizing recycling projects and being the first school in Malaysia to achieve the Eco School status,” says Liew.

Forming Teams, One School at a Time

The campaign operates by inviting students from around the country to join. Once they join, students are encouraged to complete a set of tasks. The tasks are simple and usually involve starting a “green team” with a teacher in charge involving a minimum of five students, organizing recycling projects and implementing ideas for making their school or community more sustainable. All progress is tracked via blogs the participating groups must maintain. Photo here Malaysia ColorMeGreenEvent.jpg Caption: A team hosts a “green jobs” fair.

For October 10, 2010 (10/10/10), the campaign is urging its teams to plan a “work party.” One team leader posts to the Facebook page: “Help I need ideas for my club!” Liew offers an encouraging reply, giving her a link to a recent blog post  filled with ideas:  organize a tree planting, work at a community garden or organic farm, weatherizing one’s church or temple, among many others.

Clearly, Liew works tirelessly on the project. Colour Me Green operates primarily through volunteers, it has no outside funding. The costs are covered by the participants who are in charge of their own activities. Liew explains:

“That's the beauty of this campaign and why I believe in it so much. It cost nothing! Except for the small expenditure for the website hosting we don't use any money. “

From Facebook to Action

While a campaign that uses social media ensures reach, it doesn’t always translate into participation. “The problem lies in the very nature of this campaign, which is dependent solely on participation. We put forward the idea, tell people about it, and hope that people are inspired to join us,” explained Liew.
The campaign offers incentives, like the “Green School Award,” to motivate teams. To address participation, Colour Me Green has have worked with Youth Asia, a community that supports and empowers youth related projects such as this. “They have supported our campaign by helping us drive visitors to our website through their youth portal. Right now there are more than a thousand young people supporting our campaign through various websites,” says Liew.

Dozens of schools have already joined the campaign. The Facebook numbers show the campaign has more than 200 people who “like” it and 95 people intending to participate in the 10/10/10 Work Party.  

Email info.colourmegreen@gmail.com for more information

Paromita Pain has been employed with The Hindu Newspaper, Chennai, India since January 2003. She writes for young people on a range of themes, with a special interest in media for young people, health issues, human rights and youth in situations of conflict. She can be reached at paromita.pain@gmail.com

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