Eco-Ambassador Ashley Jun champions Mission 4.7 at the UN on the International Day of Education
On January 24, 2023, Eco-Ambassador Ashley Jun, a first-year student at the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut, USA, delivered a speech at UN Headquarters in New York on the occasion of the International Day of Education. Read her speech below or watch it on UN Web TV.
Hi everyone! My name is Ashley Jun, and I’m a freshman at the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, CT.
It’s a great honor to talk before a panel of individuals so deeply committed to inclusivity, sustainability, and empowerment through education.
That is why I’m here today: to speak to the enormous potential of educating young generations about how their personal choices can fight climate change.
Growing up, I was aware of neither the environmental crisis in the world nor the effect of my personal choices on it. I loved shopping—my closet was filled with items recently purchased online. Then, I stumbled upon an article about “fast fashion” and “greenwashing.” I learned about how all my clothes end up in landfills and harm our ocean and the marine animals living there from microplastics, and also how so many brands are tricking their customers, me, into buying their garments by putting on labels like “sustainable.” How cruel is that?
In shock from my own carbon footprint, my previous lack of knowledge began to frustrate me: How had I not known my contribution to the climate crisis?
Overcome with shame—no young person likes to find out they’ve been living their life wrong—I determined to start my own research on environmentally friendly choices and alternatives to fast fashion. At one point, I even produced my own biodegradable plastics at home, using seaweed materials such as Agar and Alginate. Searching for a like-minded community, I also attended the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory’s Eco Ambassador Summer Program, held at Columbia Climate School. There, not only did I further my own learning, but I got to pass on my knowledge and stories about sustainable fashion at different conferences. Now, I’m planning to intern at environmentalists’ social media platforms, spreading awareness about stopping plastic pollution in global communities. But I should not be the only lucky one who gets to learn about these issues and get involved: Every young person needs an education on environmental literacy.
My school, for example, provides environmental educational and communal opportunities, supporting students like me in our passions. I’m currently taking courses to receive a Global and Environmental Student Certificate, writing for our school’s environmental magazine, delivering leftover food to local shelters, and applying for a Gilchrist Environmental Fellowship to turn my ideas into action. These opportunities informed me further about my relationship to the environmental crisis and the actions I can take not just to reduce my own footprint, but also to motivate others to follow suit. For example, learning about food waste, I became more conscious about how much food I plated in the cafeteria; learning about plastic pollution, I switched from paper cups to my reusable tumbler; and learning about greenwashing, I began to do more brand research and switch to authentically sustainable companies. All these choices resulted from my green education—the opportunities at school pushed me to be proactive about saving our planet and getting involved.
This is why all schools need to implement environmental courses and programs into their main curriculum. As students, we care about our future on Earth, and we want to learn about which habits we can change to fight the climate crisis. Environmental literacy programs can be extremely powerful changemakers, helping us actualize Mission 4.7’s statement: “Education for Sustainable Development and for global citizenship will empower today's young people to become knowledgeable, effective, and compassionate leaders of the future.”
If our ultimate goal is to solve this environmental crisis, educating the youth about the environment and sustainability is key. Despite the difficulty, we are in this mission together: Let’s empower our youth so we can live on a greener planet without pollution, without the fear of harming our living creatures, and without the risk of getting ill.
Thank you.