Dream built on Cherry's House (from Open Hands 2018 annual report)

In a rural town of Inarawan in the Phillippines, Ms. Cherry opened her home, despite poor conditions, as a temporary school for neglected children in the area. There is no chalkboards or desks, but only dirt grounds where children sat around to learn.  In response to Ms. Cherry's needs, a group of environment club members of Ecosave, representing different international high schools in Seoul area, consistently got together to help improve school flooring and provide school supplies. With the support of Ecosave members, Ms. Cherry's school was able to build additional floors to her home to provide separate classrooms. As a result, students no longer needed to repeat setting up and cleaning up classes every day.

Ms. Cherry (Inarawan home school teacher)
"My home was not adequately fit to be a school, but Ecosave team helped to significantly improve our school environment. I hope to instill learning habits for underprivileged and less academically inclined students so that they may complete minimum high school education. I hope to provide an environment where students could freely come to learn. We would appreciate your continued support and interest in our school."


Kim Jin Won (Grade 12, Yongsan International School of Seoul)
"Our support and involvement with Ms. Cherry's school began after hearing about their school needs. It's almost like a miracle to see the progress being made with classrooms and even a library being built.  It is exciting to witness how a school could change a student's life, family and community.  I hope to find ways to provide computer-led education and customized curriculum for different ages. Emphasis on the hygienic environment and disease awareness are key to maintaining a clean and safe learning environment."

Lee Eun Soo (First year, Harvard University)
"I cannot forget the cute round eyes of all the children when I first saw them. Initially, our goal was to provide basic support but we realized providing an educational opportunity is the best support for these children to pull themselves out of poverty. Continued development is needed to make a better world to live in. I hope to extend myself to be able to help children in need."

Kim Ji Won (Grade 10, Korea International School)
"I'm just glad and thankful our small support is able to make such a big change to Ms. Cherry's home.  Our support activity allowed me to look deep down inside myself. Environment and poverty issues seemed much distant on news or articles, but first-hand look and witness of such issues surrounding our society shed a realistic view on the current situation. I felt inadequate to do anything on my own, but this collective effort provided a good opportunity for me to be part of a support drive."

Chung Hyun Ho (Grade 11, Seoul Foreign School)
"My experience with Ecosave made me realize the importance of NGOs like UN that focuses on helping those in need. There are still a vast number of underprivileged children without any opportunity to learn. I learned there's a great value in helping these children in need rather than just being comfortable in our comfort surrounding. It's wonderful to see how the learning environment for Ms. Cherry and her students have improved since two years ago when we first visited here."

Earth Hour Korea 2019 in Coex

On March 30th, WWF hosted an annual 'Earth Hour' campaign highlighting the theme of climate change and endangered animals. WWF host this annual event to promote energy conservation by shutting down all lights for an hour. It's a globally sponsored event to bring awareness to the environmental problem faced today.

Members of Ecosave Club from Seoul Foreign School (SFS) volunteered in this year's event. Some of the key roles included advertising on Instagram, dressing up in Panda mascot to take photos with kids, distributing Earth Hour information brochure, and preparing the stage for the main event from 8 pm. For the main event, WWF Korea's President and a renowned Korean celebrity, Park Seo Jun, joined the event as the crowd cheered on.  To close the event, all the people there joined in lighting the candles on the Earth Hour letters. Even though the cold and rainy weather, many people participated in this global event.

Many corporates and government institutions showed their support by shutting down the lights for an hour. Notable participants included 63 Building, Sungnyemun Gate, Kyungju Tower, COEX, Seoul City Hall, N Seoul Tower, National Assembly, Samsung Elec, Samsung Fire and Marine, Lotte Corp, LG Uplus, Korea Herald, SK Telecom, GS, and Naver. Again, this year's event was supported by many overseas landmark buildings such as Paris' Eifel Tower, Sydney's Opera House, New York's Empire State Building, and Dubai's Burj Khalifa.

Members of SFS Ecosave Club gained valuable experience through this event and reaffirmed the importance of energy conservation by giving our Earth a much-needed rest.

 

     

    By Justin Chung 

SustainNU

As part of Northwestern's Sustainability efforts, the University will observe Earth Hour on Saturday, March 30, from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. Earth Hour is a one-hour voluntary “black-out” that launched in 2007 in Sydney, Australia to unite millions of individuals, businesses, cities and universities around the world in taking action for wildlife, rivers, oceans, forests and our climate.

Earth Hour is a global event. It symbolizes that each of us, working together, can make a positive impact on climate change. This call to action is intended to create awareness around energy reduction and give everyone the opportunity to contribute.

Northwestern will turn off landmark lights such as signage on the Chicago campus and the Crown clock tower light on the Evanston campus.

Students can join this movement during spring break trips, at home or on campus. And to help conserve energy during Earth Hour and throughout spring break, students should remember to turn off lights and devices before leaving campus.

You can support this effort by:

* Turning off all non-essential lights
* Taking the stairs for exercise instead of the elevator
* Turning off your monitor if you are not using your computer
* Turning off and unplugging all small electrical appliances not in use (i.e. chargers, coffee makers, radios, toasters, etc.)
* Taking this time to reflect and appreciate the world you live in
* Spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram As an ENERGY STAR® partner,

Northwestern promotes these practices as year-round conservation efforts. Make it a habit to turn off all non-essential lights, look into composting food scraps and unplug devices not in use. Enjoy the outdoors by biking or walking to work or class. Please join us March 30 for the global celebration of the climate change fight, and take part in your own home to make positive impacts on the Earth. Find more sustainability tips on the sustainNU website.

Sincerely,


Posted by Alberta Yoo

Earth Hour 2019 Korea

 

from WWF-korea (www.wwfkorea.or.kr)

Earth Hour 2019 switch-off will take place on Saturday 30 March at 8:30 p.m.

 

 

On Saturday 30 March 8:30 p.m. local time, skylines around the world will go dark as millions of people celebrate Earth Hour to show their commitment to protect the planet. As nature declines like never before, coupled with the ever-present challenge of climate change, Earth Hour 2019 will focus on raising awareness on why nature matters and inspiring global action on conserving nature.

From the Eiffel Tower to the Sydney Opera House, and the Empire State Building to Burj Khalifa, thousands of landmarks will switch off their lights in solidarity for the planet, to raise the awareness about the importance of nature and encourage individuals, businesses and governments worldwide to be a part of the solutions needed to build a healthy, sustainable future – and planet – for all.
 

“On one hand we have the moral responsibility to live in harmony with nature, on the other nature is vitally important to everyone’s daily lives; we depend on it for the food we eat, the air we breathe and the water we drink, and so much more. But we are pushing the planet to the limit and nature is severely under threat,” said Marco Lambertini, Director General, WWF International. “Earth Hour 2019 is a powerful opportunity to start an unstoppable movement for nature to help secure an international commitment to stop and reverse the loss of nature – a New Deal for Nature and People as comprehensive and ambitious as the global climate deal.”

 

This year is set to be another important moment for the world’s largest grassroots movement for the environment, with more than 180 countries and territories coming together to highlight and invite action on the environmental issues most relevant to them. Ecuador, for example, is pushing for a no-plastic law in the capital Quito, and Finland will be challenging over a quarter of the country’s population to eat a more balanced and better diet. Morocco will educate people on the importance of saving water and making every drop count. Indonesia is encouraging 5 million young people to adopt a greener lifestyle. The hundreds of initiatives around the world will inspire awareness and action on the importance of nature and if we act now, together, we have the opportunity to protect and improve our way of life.

 

WWF is partnering with the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity to create connect2earth.org where people, companies and organizations can find tools to push for action on nature. Through Earth Hour’s mainstream appeal, the voices of many millions of people around the world will be needed to push nature up the global agenda. People can speak up for the planet by pledging their support on Voice for the Planet calling on world leaders to agree a New Deal for Nature and People. The petition will be presented at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP in 2020, when a new set of global targets on nature will be agreed upon by governments.

 

In recognition of the critical role young people will play in creating a more sustainable world, WWF is also partnering with Zinkia Entertainment Ltd, creators of popular cartoon character Pocoyo, and the World Organization of the Scout Movement to inspire 50 million Scouts worldwide to help tackle the planet’s most pressing environmental challenges.

 

In the past decade, Earth Hour has inspired millions to support and participate in critical climate and environmental initiatives, helping drive climate policy, awareness and action worldwide. Among its highlights, the movement helped create a 3.5 million hectare marine-protected area in Argentina and a 2,700-hectare Earth Hour forest in Uganda, ban all plastics in the Galapagos in 2014, plant 17 million trees in Kazakhstan, light up homes with solar power in India and the Philippines and push new legislation for the protection of seas and forests in Russia. Just last year, French Polynesia moved to protect 5 million square kilometres of its seas to preserve ocean ecosystems.

 

Everyone can make a difference in protecting nature and it starts right here, right now with Earth Hour 2019. Visit www.earthhour.org to know what is happening for Earth Hour in locations around the world.

 

 from WWFglobal (www.panda.org)

YISS EcoSave FunFest Fundraiser

Over the past several months, the EcoSave club has carried out numerous lessons for different elementary classes.
On November 7th, the EcoSave Club achieved its first engagement with the YISS elementary school. In collaboration with Ms. Kelly Han and her kindergarten class, EcoSave members helped raise awareness among the younger generation on endangered species and habitat loss. The EcoSave club presented a lesson and a corresponding craft. The children’s artwork was then compiled into a poster that was later displayed in the school lobby.

In continuation with the teaching of elementary students, on March 16th, the EcoSave club worked with Ms. Kara Minor and her second grade class to raise awareness about global warming. Ms. Minor’s class had just finished a unit on weather, so the EcoSave club made sure to tie in this theme to the presentation for a comprehensive and engaging lesson. The children also completed a craft: groups were assigned different habitats to create with colored clay. The second grade students demonstrated great maturity and collaboration skill to construct beautiful artwork.

Finally, on May 18, the EcoSave club collaborated with Ms. Esther Stair to introduce her second grade class to the process of recycling. After giving a short presentation, the students participated in an activity involving trivia and “trashketball,” in which they had to sort a variety of different pieces of garbage into the correct container.

In October, the YISS EcoSave club fundraised at an event called Funfest to donate money to the WWF Tiger TX2. The game involved throwing a recyclable trash into the appropriate trash category (plastics, metal, paper, etc.)  

By Daniel Kim and the YISS EcoSave Club

Ocean Pollution Awareness Poem

The ocean is larger than any land we can inhabit, and it is beyond our scope of knowledge and private lives. Thus, it is convenient for us to search for excuses and isolate ourselves from the problem that we created for the ocean: our pollution. Yet, the ocean has always been a part of us and our world. As a result of our recklessness, we are actively killing 100 million marine animals per year and are also producing pesticides, oil spills, and metals such as mercury that end up affecting the marine animals that we end up consuming. As I have stated before, harming the ocean directly harms us. The ocean is indeed another tragedy of man’s mistakes and seems as if the harm we started is almost irreversible. However, the problem can be reversed.We only need not to lean on our own desire for comfort and convenience. Instead, we can take the initiative to prevent and reduce the harm we started. To that end, I offer a poem to highlight the ease in which these sentiments can be resolved by simply changing the way we look at things--that sometimes, it's simply a matter of thinking differently, positively, from the ground up. While this poem structure is by no means unique, I did feel it would be a poignant way to express the duality of thought involved.

Reverse Our Actions

The ocean is long gone!  

Don’t tell me that   

I can make a difference.  

Because after all

The ocean is dead, acidified with the Great Coral Reefs bleaching.

And I’m not reassured that

Bivalves and clams can build the calcium carbonate to build their shells

So I will remind myself that

the harm is irreversible

And we can not say that

Plastic bottles will be eradicated from our most precious resource

Because whatever effort we show

Oils spills like Deep Horizon and garbage stews like Pacific Trash Vortex will prevail

And it is not true that

The petroleum and fertilizers can be halted from running off the land now.

We can ponder that

the remedies for acoustic bleaching will succeed

Even though whales will still lose direction, with the loss of their primary sense of sound,

We will try to lie to ourselves, yet

There will be consequences

and don’t you know that when fish eats plastic,

We eat garbage that harms ourselves too?

So let’s stop dreaming of a false idea and believe that

The ocean can be saved.

By: Daniel Kim