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SPRING 2009 the ambassador

ca eteria division and the administrationand set goals or the uture, includinanother 5% decrease in ASIJs energyconsumption, the expansion o thesolar panel and compost systems, anda potential ban on PET bottle selling inthe kiosk. Changing individual behavioremains the biggest obstacle in the yearsahead, as basic habits such as throwingaway trash and turning o lights anappliances are not ully practiced in thASIJ community. Ellie and I created video once again, but decided to pursuea documentary eel rather than take a

humorous approach.As we were working on No Heat,

No Cool, No Problem, juniors GavinBird, Kenji Bowers, Kevin Gallagher asenior Wynne Callon spearheaded thehomelessness issue. They worked tocon ront the stereotype o the homelespopulation in Japan, lming interviewsgathering statistics, and creating acompelling simulation o the li e homeless Mr. Shin.

Our ultimate goal is to educatestudents about the issues surroundinghomelessness and to motivate students tomake service, especially but not limited tothe homeless, an activity they per orm on aregular basis, the group collectively stated.The National Honor Society here at ASIo ers two projects relating to homelessnesa ood and necessity distribution project othe homeless near Tama River, an initiativeset up by Wynne Callon, and a volunteer project or Second Harvest Japan, aorganization that distributes ood to thehomeless here in Tokyo.

12 the ambassador SPRING 2009

eaturesGREEN INITIATIVES

eaturesGREEN INITIATIVES

Elicia Cousins 09 reports on the Global Issues Network and their environmental and service initiatives

We Can, We Will

During the winter o 2007-2008,I ound out that the StudentForum, a current events discussiongroup, was ocusing on the environment inpreparation or some sort o con erence inthe spring. Despite the little knowledge I hadabout the con erence or what exactly theywere ocusing on, this immediately sparkedmy interest. Luckily, as a SAFE (StudentAction For the Environment) leader, I wasasked to join one meeting where the groupwanted to discuss a potential ocus or thepresentation at the con erence. A ter thatmeeting I was there to stay.

A ter a ew discussions, we chose to doa presentation on how schools can lessentheir impact on the environment by usingour own school as an example.

We talked about how to bring thistopic to li e, and decided to make a videoas a component o our presentation. Asdirectors o the video, Ellie Onions 09 andI decided to organize the scenes around avisit to our school by the cartoon charact er Captain Planet, through whose eyeswe could explore the environmentalprojects on campus as well as exposevarious shortcomings in ASIJs treatmento the environment. This lightheartedand humorous approach enabled usto avoid a reprimanding tone, whilemotivating our audience to contributeto change. Following a success ulpresentation in Beijing, we presentedto the ASIJ Board o Directors, grades8-11, and the whole aculty.

As a result, ASIJ began the 2008-2009school year with a variety o school-wideenvironmental initiatives. The schools

undraising e ort was devoted to thepurchase o solar panels, a goal that hasnow been reached. A urther aim was toreduce ASIJs annual energy consumptionand garbage disposal by a minimum o10%. The data rom each month showsthat on average, ASIJs energy consumptionhas decreased by more than 10%.

This year the Student Forum club(renamed the Global Issues Networkclub) decided to prepare an update onthe various successes o ASIJs greenmovement. I worked alongside juniorsReza Bloomer and David Forster and ellow

seniors Astrid Fulton and Ellie Onions or this project. We titled our presentationNo Heat, No Cool, No Problem! asa result o our desire to ocus on theimportance o individual actions.

We reviewed the various success ulinitiatives taken on by students, teachers,

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Eventually we travelled to the GIN con erence in Bangkokalong with Headmaster Tim Carr and HS Principal Rick Weinland,where we spent three days participating in workshops led byother international students as well as listening to inspirationalkeynote speakers including Jean Franois Richard, John D. Liu andDr Mechai Viravaidya. We presented our two topics: JapaneseHomelessness: An Issue Cloaked in Silence and No Heat, NoCool, No Problem, both o which were very well received.

As the con erence came to an end, I sensed a wonder ulenthusiasm within the ASIJ group as we shared our experiences.Many expressed astonishment in being exposed to such a vastvariety o global issues that they had never thought about be ore.Others went right into making new li e plans, like Gavin Bird,who declared that he now wants to work in an NGO or someservice-related job rather than some business. A ew o usbegan considering taking a gap year to pursue new interestsa ter listening to keynote and workshop stories lled withcreativity, risk-taking and nding a passion. We all agreed thatwe wanted to trans er some o this energy and awareness to theASIJ community, and decided to hold an assembly or the highschool and present shortened versions o our two presentationsas well as a ew other issues addressed at the con erence.

Last year, the con erence was entitled Earths Hope. Thisyear the title read, We Can. We Will. Though a bit skeptical

at rst, as I proceeded through the con erence both last year and this year, I was given reason a ter reason to believe thatsuch optimism translates into solid action that makes soliddi erences. The con erence last year was energizing andhope ul, Headmaster Tim Carr refected, but the theme thisyear was particularly power ul as a call to action. And as werealized through this con erence, such action doesnt have tobe all-encompassing; its all about nding a ocus. As 18-year old Ryan Hreljac said in his keynote presentation, its all about

nding your puzzle-piece. Just nd your passion.Once we returned rom the con erence, our No Heat, No

Cool, No Problem video was posted on the ASIJ website.Third grade teachers Grant Rolls and Dan Stevens respondedimmediately by showing the video to their students, who alsohad something to say. The third graders wrote letters thankingEllie and me or making the video, but another set o letterswas directed to all HS students regarding the trash issue.From watching the video, I have seen that lots o trash is le ton the high school locker room tables, one read. When youcant walk a couple o steps to throw something away it showsyoure not responsible, another student wrote. Please dontmake this a Wall-E world, concluded another.

ASIJ still has a long way to go. However, with a varietyo initiatives now in place, the new ideal o sustainability hasclearly permeated the entire school, which will allow ASIJ totake a big step in reducing its impact on the environment. Moreimportantly, students can take this new ideal with them andbecome the aware, responsible citizens that our environmentneeds. During the long hours I spent in the editing room or making powerpoints, I never imagined that our work wouldhave such a big infuence. The many keynote speakers at theboth GIN con erences all told stories o the di erent ways theyhad inspired change; I am still amazed that we in the StudentForum now have a similar story, though on a smaller scale. Inour story, optimism really did pay o we began by thinkingthat we could. And we did.

upper le t: Key note speaker at the GIN con erence, John D. Liubottom le t: Elicia Cousins in discussion during the con erence

Solar PanelsUnveiled

March 18, 2009 saw theunveiling o ASIJs solar panewhich were installed on throo o the high school gym and pooThe unveiling o the panels marked thesuccess ul culmination o one area ASIJs undraising campaign to promot

environmental initiatives on campusOn hand to participate in the unveilingwas Mr Naotaka Okuno rom HitachConsulting, the largest corporatesponsor o the project. Mr Okuno

joined high schooler Elicia Cousins 0who is a leading member in the studentGlobal Initiatives Network group, iswitching on the system.

The solar panel system will play vital role in helping ASIJ attain its goal oreducing the schools carbon ootprinand energy usage. Live data on theper ormance o the system and energyconsumption will be displayed onscreens in the high school so studentsare able view to the real time e ecto switching on the a/c and how muchpower is generated on a sunny day.

Figures or February showed AShad cut its total energy consumptionby 19.8% with 12.1% in electricityusage. The solar panels should enablethe school to make urther energysavings going orward.

Deputy Headmaster Tim Thornton, Mr. Naotaka

Okuno rom Hitachi Consulting andsenior Seaun Eddy at the solar

panels unveiling