PRESS RELEASE: Toyota Eco Youth Verification Visit!!

The Toyota Eco Youth (TEY) programme, one of UMW Toyota’s CSR pillars, enters its 14th year with challenging projects from 16 participating schools. Officially launched in February, the programme continues to challenge teachers and students to do their part for the environment using resourceful and creative means.

Initiated in 2001 as a simple eco challenge among schools, TEY has developed into a full-fledged public engagement campaign since 2010 when the challenge was expanded to involve the local communities. The advent of social media in the recent years has also changed the way the programme is conducted, with more savvy participants using the web to garner support and disseminate information.

At the heart of TEY is the 8-Step Problem-Solving Methodology, Toyota’s proprietary philosophy which is used across the board in all Toyota entities worldwide. The methodology follows a step-by-step guide to tackling problems, starting with identification of a problem, understanding the situation, setting targets, analysing the cause and effect, drafting and implementing countermeasures, checking the results and standardisation control. 

TEY participants are first given training on the 8-Step Problem-Solving Methodology before embarking on their selected projects. Along the way, UMW Toyota Motor continues to provide guidance and advice on project implementation.

“Every year, the projects that are being proposed by participants continue to improve in quality. We are delighted to see our 8-Step Problem Solving Methodology being applied in various ingenious ways, always ending with positive and sustainable results,” says Datuk Ismet Suki, President of UMW Toyota Motor.

As in previous years, waste management continues to take centre stage this year, with eight schools focusing on public littering, clogged drains, illegal dump sites and ponds or rivers choked with rubbish. 

Some schools decided to attempt new ventures, such as SMK Clifford in Pahang who will be tackling the problem of birds’ droppings at the Kuala Lipis town; SMK Putrajaya Presinct 9 (1) who ambitiously looking into paddy-planting as a greywater treatment process; SMK Convent Kajang will be turning a home for underprivileged girls into a model eco home; and SMK Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu is trying to revive a traditional river and fishery rehabilitation system known locally as the Bombon System. 

Strategic partnerships are important in any community project, and two schools, SMK Putrajaya and SMK Bandaraya Kota Kinabalu have successfully worked out collaborations with University Putra Malaysia (UPM) and University Malaysia Sabah (UMS) respectively. Similarly, students from SMK Convent Kajang have also visited 3R Quest, a recycling and bio-enzyme company, to get technical advice and inspiration. 

Apart from their community projects, some schools are also conducting internal programmes, such as SMK Paya Kemunting, Kedah, who recently launched their garden zoning project using a mentor-mentee system. The project will see the entire school being transformed into a green living space that is conducive for learning.

“The key message is that everyone can do a part for the environment whether it is just driving a 3R campaign at a local mosque to get people to reduce, reuse and recycle, giving a playground or wasteland a facelift, or reviving a dead river, we can all do something if we get together and tackle the problem using the 8-Step Problem-Solving Methodology” stresses Datuk Ismet.

Winning schools will receive RM10,000 for the grand prize, RM7,000 for second prize, and RM5,000 for third prize winner. For more information, log on to www.toyotaecoyouth.com.my or view the blog at www.ecoyouthblog.toyota.com.my

source: UMW Toyota Malaysia