Games, quiz show in today’s Environmental Expo

The Division of Environmental Quality is holding its first Environmental Expo today, April 19, from 8am to 12 noon at the Chamolinian Cultural Village in Garapan.

About 50 participants from both government and private sector will put up displays and exhibits and will hold demonstrations and presentations to students about the importance of preserving, maintaining and protecting the environment.

The Environmental Expo is part of the CNMI’s celebration of Environmental Awareness Week.

“This year we decided to hold an Environmental Expo giving government agencies and private businesses an opportunity to showcase their work and contributions to environmental protection,” according to Fran Castro, coordinator for this year’s event.

Castro said that, for three years now, DEQ has been having symposiums where different agencies would conduct oral presentations about their work and the environment. The symposiums ran concurrently with a mini-exhibit fair.

“This year, we decided to go all out, because this is what the students asked for at last year’s symposium, and so this is all for them; they wanted more activities, so we’re giving it to them” Castro said. “We’re trying to make it fun and interesting for the students by having different hands-on activities,” Castro added.

The Expo will feature a “Passport to Your Environment,” where students will receive a passport when they arrive, and in order to get a prize, they must visit at least 20 booths and obtain 20 stamps. There will also be a game show called the “Expo-Nanza”—similar to Jeopardy—with the questions formulated by booth displayers.

“If students pay attention when visiting the booths, they could get the answer,” she said.

There will be also an obstacle course called “Move It With Nutrition” that the DPH Diabetes Prevention and Control Center is organizing, “so there is a lot to look forward to.”

“I also feel that the students will learn that the environment is something that we should always treasure because it’s for us and the future generation, which is exactly what our theme suggests, ‘Our Environment, Our Health, Our Future,’” she said.

The booths will also be on display at the Garapan Street Market on Thursday, April 21.

“The reason behind holding this event at the Garapan Street Market is that we need to start changing people’s behaviors toward the environment, and if they don’t come to our events, then we have to bring the event to them.”

Environmental Recognition Awards will be given to an individual, a business, a school and a nonprofit organization for their valuable contributions in environmental protection.

Students and schools who participated in the logo, haiku, essay and recycling contests will also be given awards that evening.