Recently crowned Miss Oneness T&T, Amryl Nurse, plans to use her newly attained platform to help produce environmentally conscious youth. The 22-year-old beauty queen will represent T&T at the Miss Earth competition in Indonesia next month. Nurse said she hopes to work with the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) on an outreach programme in primary and secondary schools during her reign. "I think if people are educated about taking care of the earth from early they become more sensitised as adults. We really need to be more aware of how important the environment is and educated about what our sustainable resources are," she said.
Pollution of waterways and seas is one of the most pressing local environmental issues, said Nurse, who added that information about the negative effects of littering and recycling will be part of the proposed outreach programme. Before participating in the pageant, Nurse said she had begun making small changes in her lifestyle-such as buying environmentally-friendly products-to reduce her personal impact on the environment. Being a participant allowed her to learn more about T&T's natural resources. She represented Paria Waterfalls in the pageant-a place she had never heard of or visited before becoming a contestant.
Although she said her major goal for next month is to bring home a crown for T&T, Nurse shared that she wants to continue working towards changing attitudes towards to the environment after the pageant and has already spoken with the managers of Oneness Entertainment about this. The Freeport native said Miss Earth was just as important as Miss World or Miss Universe, in which she was a semi-finalist last year. Nurse said Miss Earth was of particular importance because of its focus on environmental protection and eco-tourism and she wants to see more corporate and government support for the pageant locally.
Next week, Nurse heads to Jamaica on her first official appearance as Miss Oneness T&T.