by Simrin Rebeiro
VADODARA, JUNE 8, 2019: To mark the 72nd World Environment Day, 30 volunteers from Don Bosco Parish, Makarpura, Vadodara – under the guidance of Father Anthony Pinto – worked together to plant 10 saplings on June 5.
The youth of Don Bosco Parish were instrumental in organising the event, which saw the Parish Pastoral Council (PPC) members, parishioners, priests, and youth from the community of Don Bosco Snehalaya come together for the initiative.
World Environment Day was established by the United Nations in 1947 and today has become an international event, which is observed and celebrated by over 100 countries worldwide.
Each sapling will now be 'adopted' by a family or group who are to nurture it, in order to prevent it from wilting after it has been planted. Father Pinto chose a Cordia Sebestena sapling, which grows to a height of 12 feet.
The plant does not overpower the architecture around it, and unlike other plants, it doesn’t shed all its leaves.
The volunteers worked together at their designated plots to dig the soil, mix the manure, plant the saplings, and finally water the plants. The simple initiative comes with a compound objective; to raise awareness about the damage done to the environment by us humans.