Thankful Environmental News of 2017

 The past year may have seemed like doom and gloom for the environment, but there was plenty to be thankful for. Below are some of the happier environmental stories of 2017.

1. New populations of rare wildlife were discovered
    In 2017, conservationists were able to find new populations of endangered wildlife. For example, a rich population of the 'helmeted hornbill,' a large bird in the Malay Peninsula, was found. This was a species that was nearly extinct at one point due to the extreme poaching, but the new discovery has sparked hope for the future.
    There were also discoveries made in the forests in Karen state in southeast Myanmar, as 31 different mammals were recorded in this area. These consisted of tigers, asian elephants, phayre's langurs and dholes. The place was previously prohibited due to political and security reasons.

2. A U.S. subnational delegation bypassed Trump and committed to keeping America’s Paris goal
    In June 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump decided to pull out of the Paris Agreement on climate change. He also decided not to pay for a pavilion at the U.N.’s climate summit held at Bonn, Germany, that the U.S. federal government has sponsored for 22 years.
In opposition to President Trump's stance, a rival coalition of U.S. governors, mayors, business and religious leaders sponsored an unofficial pavilion named “America’s Pledge: We Are Still In.”  Governor Jerry Brown of California and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg led the delegation. According to Mr. Bloomberg, decisions on whether or how the U.S. takes action on climate change are made by cities, states, and civil society, not federal government. These delegations were ready to continue supporting Paris Agreement if Washington won't support the cause.

3. Philanthropists and companies made big commitments for the environment
   This year, many philanthropists and companies start to make efforts for the environment. The Gates Foundation announced a $300 million grant to support agriculture research that would help famers in Africa and Asia adapt to climate change. The William and Flora Hewlett also announced a $600 million donation over to nonprofits that are working on climate change solutions. In addition, there were other foundations that announced that they will support conservation efforts. For instance, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation announced $20 million to local and global nonprofit organizations.

4. Large Marine Reserves were created
    Niue, a small island country in the South Pacific with a population of just 1,600, established a new marine protected area that covers 40 percent of the island’s exclusive economic zone. Through the 127,000-square-kilometer (49,000-square-mile) marine reserve, the government of Niue hopes to protect its fish stocks and help reduce overfishing of threatened fish species.

5. Newfound technologies are boosting conservation efforts 
    This year we saw the ever-increasing potential of technology to improve conservation monitoring and efforts. The international Barcode of Life initiative, for example, has developed a new LifeScanner Lab-In-A-Box portable DNA barcoding kit that can be used by rangers, police and port-of-entry officials to rapidly identify the species of plant and animal samples found on suspected smugglers. Another team has developed a handheld portable DNA sequencing device that allows it to identify plants faster than before in the field. Researchers have also adapted widely used technologies, like thermal imaging video technology, to detect the impact of white-nose syndrome in hibernating bats.

                      - article on 'Mongabay' summarized by Justin Chung

IVI Tour

Today, our club met at the International Vaccine Institute branch in Seoul, where IVI first started. It is a non-profit organization where vaccines are developed and delivered to developing countries in order to prevent the spread of diseases. We were lucky enough to get a tour and learned the purposes and the goals of IVI. In relation to our club, IVI focuses a lot on preventing the spread of diseases from water sources since diseases such as cholera are prevalent in developing countries. We believed that our short experience at IVI could teach us the detrimental and far-reaching effects that contaminated water can have on human health as well. Thus, it is all the more imperative for our club to focus on water filtration and the cleanliness of water as well. 

Overall, it was an unique experience because IVI is an exemplary organization that supports those that are in need and those that are incapable of helping themselves. 

Christmas for Cherry

      As a club, we were glad that Cherry and her students could celebrate Christmas with the gifts our club had fundraised for. Last summer in Manila, we gave the kids simple notebooks and utensils in order to provide the basic school supplies. Then, they gratefully received the materials and we also learned a lot from the experience. It is also a privilege that our club was able to give gifts, especially during the holiday season. Hopefully, the kids were also glad to receive these Christmas gifts.

More Donations Towards Cherry

     Other than the donation for the renovation of Cherry's school, the Ecosave Club has continued to fundraise money to help out Cherry.

     Recently, the Ecosave Club fundraised money from a bazaar and donated it to the Open Hands Organization. With the help of our donation, the Open Hands bought school supplies such as pencils, crayons, and notebooks for 100 Philippine kids. Furthermore, they visited the children in person to hand out the gifts.

     In addition, with the leftover money, we were able to renovate Cherry's house. Cherry's house was deeply in need of a proper roof, floor, and a bathroom, so over the summer, the Open Hands helped Cherry's house to be reconstructed. It was great to see a proper house being made, and Cherry's family loved their new house.

     It was very heartwarming to hear the news that small improvements were happening for Cherry's family and the children in Phillippine by our small donations. We look forward to more donations that will help the education of these children.

Donation to the Open Hands Organization

School supplies for the Philippine kids

Children that received the supplies.

Cherry's house before the construction

Cherry's house after the construction

Cherry's School Improved and Renovated

    Ecosave and Open Hands have been actively cooperating in the attempt to help Cherry educate the kids in Manila who aren't able to go to school. Over the past few months, we have been constantly fundraising and holding service activities with the purpose of improving Cherry's teaching environment. Recently, Open Hands, the non-profit environmental organization, traveled to the Philippines to help build a better learning environment for Cherry and the kids.

    This service action was a difficult but meaningful process for both Cherry, the children, and the Open Hands team. In the past, the learning environment consisted of a messy dirt ground and temporary ceiling that made it impossible to teach in harsh weather conditions. So, the Open Hands service group replaced the dirt ground with clean cement that was a much more ideal environment. In addition, they built walls and a sturdy ceiling that made it possible for Cherry to hold her classes even during rainy weathers.
    The ecosave group was not able to participate in this renovating process because all of the members had to attend school. Nonetheless, we are very glad to hear that the children are now able to study under a better learning environment and we hope to interact with the kids in the future.

                                         -The previous place that Cherry taught the kids.



 

-The process of renovating



 

- The newly renovated place

 

 

Finland - "Let's Eat Crickets"

On September 20, 2017, the Finnish Agriculture Ministry opened the doors for the cultivation and selling of insects as food products. They stated that they will ensure that “the final products are safe for consumers” and that “Evira will provide instructions for producers and regulators.” 

Researchers from the University of Turku of Finland first started researching about edible insects in the country. Though not a widely known topic, they believed that insects would be the perfect answer in case of a mass food crisis. Their research has finally brought the country to the world of edible insects. 

Even before the 20th of September, people have shown interest in the consumption of insects. In November of every year, a start-up festival is held in Helsinki, Finland. For the past few festivals, there has been a growing trend of utilizing insects as food - more start ups with edible insect cookies and meatballs. 

The future looks bright for the new food business in Finland. According to a survey conducted by the University of Turku, one-third of the people have already eaten an insect in some form before and 50% have thoughts on eating some kind of food with insects in the near future. The most popular insects in the country are crickets and mealworms. These eco-friendly, sustainable, and high protein creatures will soon prove to be the most used ingredient in meals and possibly the most eaten snack for Finnish children. 

By Soo Lee

Fundraising for Cherry

On September 17th, we went out on the streets of Itaewon for a small fundraising event for Cherry. Here are some pictures of us selling goods to promote our club and raise awareness. Even though our profit wasn't big, it was still very meaningful to talk to strangers about what we are doing in our club.