Everyday you meet a new person, no matter they age, race or political affiliation. one amazing thing about the random people you meet, most of them are just amazing in their own unique way. During my short break away i met a young beautiful little angel passionate and crazy about the environment in a way no fully grown person can explain apart from her own words.

Meet Ellyanne Chlystun Githae the 7 year old girl who is making the environment her first priority. Ellyanne started planting trees in 2015 at the tender age of 4 years. Over the years Ellyanne has made so much impact to the environment that has got her recognition from UNEP Nairobi.

download (1) — Ellyanne during her interview by UNIC Team

I thought to myself, why is it that some parents will allow some kids do good and others just leave the kids to roam around on their own like they don’t belong to anyone in this society. Ellyanne wishes to change the thoughts of other kids in order to create a peaceful surrounding for the future of tomorrow. Environment is home and i believe if we get 10 more parents who are willing to support their little ones with the passion they have.

Ellyanne is one of the many kids who are changing lives and ensuring the environment is taken care of. This year alone, she has been able to plant 321 trees and she is not stopping anytime soon until she confirms that the number of trees cut are less compared to the ones planned.

In Kenya, the widespread cutting of trees is a leading cause of environmental degradation. The practice is a major contributor to poverty, drought and famine.

80% of the world’s forests are already destroyed.

80,000 acres of forests disappear from the Earth every day!

300 billion tons of carbon are stored in the Earth’s forests, which helps regulate its climate by regulating atmospheric gases, stabilizing rainfall, and protecting against desertification

To address this, 7-year-old Ellyanne Chlystun-Githae has taken up tree planting.

Ellyanne started tree planting in 2015. At a mere age of 4 years. She did a project in Kindergarten on heroes due to their work in impacting the world. These heroes included Martin Luther King Jr, Wangari Maathai, Barack Obama, Henry Wanyoike among others. She later narrowed down to Wangari Maathai and Hennry Wanyoike as people she would want to emulate.

Why Wangari Maathai? Ellyanne’s Achievements

Ellyanne feels that what Maathai believed in is one of the most important things in the world…planting trees. She believes all trees were planted by Wangari Maathai, who will be upset in heaven seeing them being cut. She says that even projects like infrastructure development which lead to mass cutting of trees should be re-thought and alternative measures to be taken so as to avoid tree cutting! As her contribution to mitigate deforestation, Ellyanne has planted 321 trees mainly in Karura Forest.

Her passion and zeal has not gone unnoticed. Young Ellyanne was invited by UNEP Nairobi on 5th June 2017, for the celebrations of World Environment Day, whose theme was Connecting with Nature. She was excited to listen to great people like the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON), Madame Sahle-Work Zewde.

As a build up to World Environment Day 2017 Ellyanne planted 12 trees with young students on 31^st May in Karura forest, Joined Youth at USIU University on 4^th June for an environment awareness talk & planted 2 trees. She received a Certificate of Recognition, for her participation. She also joined Mr. & Miss Environment on 3^rd June for fashion show geared towards creating awareness on the environment at Southern Sun May Fair Hotel

Ellyanne’s mother, Dorothy Githae, has supported her daughter’s passion by starting a tree nursery in their backyard. They currently have 600 tree seedlings of INDIGENOUS, EXOTIC TREES & FLOWERS that they aim to plant by end of 2017 in collaboration with kids from Cheleta Primary School (a school for Githogoro & Huruma Slums kids) located in Runda.

Tree planting is an important measure in combating global warming. They absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen, contribute to soil health, retain water, and cool overheated urban areas. The earth needs more trees! With passion like Ellyanne’s, probably we may be able to plant just enough trees to solve global warming.

I urge everyone to stand with #ChildrenWithNature, they are on the forefront of environmental conservations and i believe if we all agree to come on board and support them, our environment will never luck.

Have you ever wondered to yourself why you may often become ill 😷 or have to take your relative to the hospital for some minor check up?

Well the quality of our environment affects all of us nomatter where you live in this part of the country, or the world 🌎 at large. The environment is our number one home. If it’s not healthy then we are also bound not to be healthy at all.

Today we deal with Sustainable Development.

Sustainable development is the use of worlds resources for development in a way that ensures future generations do the same. You don’t have to go to Dubai to make the change. Start from the most simplest method ever. Sustainable development helps us in balancing the need of humans with the needs of the environment. That at the end of the day no harm is caused to the environment.

The International Importance on sustainable development was felt during by the World Community during the first Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 🇧🇷 1992. The world and it’s leaders are working their best to make sure the world is beautiful once again. Day in day out everyone somewhere in this world help at one point or the other destroy or build the environment.

People get offended and some feel insulted when they see others caring for the the endangered species. Many haven’t seen the importance of this course yet but if you sit down with Jim Nyamu an activist for saving Elephants 🐘 in this great nation then you will realize that you are not the only one who thinks the environment is not worth. This animals too depend on this environment that we don’t care about it’s existence.

The sooner we care for the environment the better for us. It is visible all over the world how the weather patterns have changed. We now experience more droughts is some parts of the world. Flooding has become a natural disaster for a long while due to our neglegence in controlling how we take care of the environment. For the past few months there has been rise of temperature 🤒 due to the ozone layer being destroyed by the waste products emitted from different sources.

There are very so many ways in which one can do to ensure the Environment is Safe and Healthy for each and every person. The most simplest ways are ones that everyone can practice anywhere anytime.

* PLANT TREES 🌲

I wonder why you would want to go and cut down half a forest 🌳 in the name of firewood and other home necessities and yet you can’t allow someone come to your house and steal half your belongings and leave you with very little to manage. The rate at which the environment is being robbed is too high that it will be of no essence to talk of a beautiful nation with very little forest cover.

The next time you feel or see anyone trying to cut down any tree, challenge that person. Instead of cutting down all of them at one time, reducing the amount of Oxygen into the earth system, cut the few you need, leave the rest and plant new ones to help the environment have a beautiful look no matter how many times we try to destroy it. This helps in creating green living areas for the future of tomorrow.

Stop ✋ the greed for having everything for ourselves and none for the rest of us. Stop ✋ the use of unhealthy industrialization, think 💭 of that person who doesn’t benefit from your product at any point of time. Plant a Tree and Save the World.

*COMPOSTING

On a visit to Manor House Agricultural Center- Kitale – a leading Biointensive Agriculture (BIA) training and research Institution, empowering farming communities for properous livelihoods and environment conservation. Learned a very important lesson in using waste to benefit the little things around our homes. Rich nutrient filled food/manure to help in the fast growth of plants 🌱 The food we throw away in our homes, may not be good for human consumption but bery useful to the plants at our compound. This helps reduce waste and maintain a clean environment.

*CONSERVE WATER 💦

Water being the most important commodity in life but yet we may just watch and do nothing when we see it being misused by everyone around us. Look around you ad. You will notice free water being taken for granted. Running taps, unchecked water leakages and over flowing water trucks are some of the unnecessary things that should be stopped to help conserve enough water for a longer period.

The country is experiencing alot of rain ☔️ at the moment, it may not be your county but try your best and harvest the little that you can. This will not be necessarily for domestic use but will be of help for the flowers 🌺 in your back yard and also help you in washing your car 🚙 Be Smart. Care for the Environment.

*STOP LITTERING

Thank Madam Cs Wakhungu for the great work on Ban Plastic, the idea 💡 may not be of a great impact now becaus it’s new and somewhat unusual to most of us but step by step it will be embraced.

Speaking to Mr J Wakibia who initiated #BanPlasticsKe you will understand the importance of using reusable bags. Instead of using disposable plastic cups, plates, spoons etc try reusable,washable flatware and get an extra set for those activities that require them so much. For the-go coffee ☕️ lovers always carry your thermal with you at all time. Your coffee will always remain hot at all time. And this helps in reducing the amount of trash collected in our homes.

Focus on Prevention rather than solving the situation. It may not be today tomorrow or the near future but the more we unite together to help maintain the environment. Hold open discussions with different people and give them more knowledge on environmental conservation.

#AzuSays, ‘If your manifesto doesn’t talk about the environment you are not a favorable candidate. The government has very little framework and responsibilities provided to them by NEMA. This includes Land planning and development, natural and cultural resources, pollution control and waste management.

Different Government departments have various responsibilities to ensure that the environment is in good shape clean and healthy.

Striking a Balance between development and healthy environment may take centuries but being together and supporting each other will help save the planet from deteriorating.