CANON Marketing Malaysia, in an effort to highlight its commitment to a greener, more environmentally-friendly world, recently launched the Canon Goes Green campaign.

The movement started with one question: can we make a difference? The people at Canon decided to ask everyone that question, and make them realise that anyone can impact the environment, no matter how small their contribution.

Liew Sip-chon, president and CEO of Canon Marketing Malaysia, said: "We hope this campaign will shift the attitude of our community, bring urgent focus to the saving of the environment for our future generation and deliver the message that individual contribution matters.

"As a start, we have three young people who call themselves the EnvironMENTALS. Their role is to carry environmental messages to the people on the streets with random acts.

The EnvironMENTALS consist of three masked, green-clad figures called the Green Grin, Botany Girl and General Green.

Over the past few weeks, they have been out on the streets capturing the attention and imagination of passers-by by driving around in a cardboard car, splashing removable green paint on those who harm the environment, catching litter bugs in action and so on.

The trio maintain a Facebook group, which is gaining a strong following. There, they can interact with like-minded individuals who care about the environment and hold discussion topics on how to help the planet.

The EnvironMENTALS are also featured on a microsite (www.canongoesgreen.com) dedicated towards Canon’s green journey.

There, visitors can see video clips taken by the group during their green crusade around Malaysia. The site is also an interface between Canon and the public to fulfil a tree-planting pledge undertaken by the company.

Canon is inviting photo contributions of the environment/natural surroundings from the public to get the ball rolling so that Canon can fulfil its pledge of planting 2,500 trees to replenish the environment. Each picture submitted will earn a tree for the environment.

The 2,500 trees will be planted at several green lungs in Padang Kota Damansara, a reserve area in Klang Valley, on Oct 19. This effort is in association with Majlis Bandaraya Petaling Jaya (MBPJ) and Global Environment Centre (GEC).

Liew added: "With the launch of the Canon Goes Green campaign and the microsite, we hope to get more public support through photo contributions so we can plant those trees and replenish our environment for our future generation."