The Toyota Eco Youth Challenge celebrates its 15th anniversary with a concerted push by making Solid Waste Management its theme for the year. Starting off as an eco competition between schools, the annual programme has grown in leaps and bounds, impacting secondary schools and teachers as well as countless communities where participating schools are located.
He adds that on a global basis, the car manufacturer has established the Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050, which identified 6 key environmental issues to be tackled in the next 3 decades such as CO2 reduction, water optimisation and establishing societies that practice recycling and an earth-friendly culture.
Closer to home, UMW Toyota Motor (UMWT) implements environmental best practices at their head office, showrooms and service centers. Various environmental activities are also conducted with their staff every year, such as environmental awareness talks, tree planting, recycling and others. These efforts underline UMWT’s strong commitment to environmental consciousness and grow a future generation that adopts sustainable practices in all aspects of life.
In the past, participating schools were selected by the Ministry of Education, typically one from each state for a fair representation across the country. Bringing the challenge one notch higher, schools who would like to participate in the Toyota Eco Youth programme this year had to submit a project proposal to the organizing committee.
This new arrangement is expected to bring even better results in terms of project outcome, promotions and exposure, as schools who had submitted proposals had already shown their competitive spirit from the onset. To date, 209 schools have participated in the Toyota Eco Youth Challenge. UMW Toyota Motor had spent over RM6 million for the programme since its inception in 2001, considering it a worthy investment in human capital and the planet we live in.
