WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than half a million toys ranging from key chains to Winnie the Pooh bookmarks and Baby Einstein color blocks are being recalled because of excessive lead levels, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Thursday.

When Amma came to the temple for Meditation Day on Tuesday, a small purse and hand-fan were waiting for her on her peetham. After sitting down, Amma placed the purse's strap over her shoulder and began fanning herself, beaming a smile as if she were modelling some of the most glamorous apparel in the world. Amma then showed everyone how the blade of the fan was made from chocolate-bar wrappers and how the purse had been woven from strips of disregarded plastic.

What is so special about the three-acre campus of Amrita Vidyalayam (school for children) situated on the banks of the Adyar River in Chennai, India?

The lush greenery and flower gardens tell us a different story from the arid surroundings - a green revolution is quietly underway. Mr. Krishnamachari, the school Principal and Mr. Raj, former landscape expert, and GreenFriends staff have been working steadily to grow a paradise

Their aim - to help children enjoy Nature while caring for it.

Alexandria Mathis, age: 14 www.actionfornature.org

What I have to say about our environment is that we should keep it nice, clean, healthy, and quiet for everybody to see or use. Would you like to live in a dump or unclean place, Or have a safe for us kids to have fun? I can give three reasons why to keep our environment clean 1. It will smell bad if dirty. 2. Do you want to step in something you don't like. 3. We probably wouldn't have some of the things we have today if other people didn't clean up their mess.

(Or That`s the Way it is)

By Robert H. - Age 11

I think that if we had started recycling a long time ago we would have a better envirment. We also should have use natural based products to reduce harm to the envirment.

There isn`t a magic time machine that would bring us back to the time of the industrial revolution ,so we might have a chance to convince the people to use natural based products and tell what would happen if they don`t. I think that would be swell. But, let’s gets back to reality.