Sustainable Development Goals Competition Winners!

21 June 2021

Following the Sustainable Development Goals Focus Day which fell on 14 May 2021, UWCSEA Dover students reflected further on the impact of the goals and the inspiration behind them by taking part in a writing competition! Check out our best submissions and winners below!

Saving my favourite planet with superpowers – Jason (Junsung), Grade 5, UWCSEA Dover

“I can’t wait to see my favourite planet again!” My space shuttle zoomed past the red planet as I shouted out loud in my capsule. I was excited to encounter new things on this beautiful planet called ‘earth’ and it has been a long time since I visited last. Suddenly, the blue planet appeared and filled my eyes as my shuttle entered its grip!

As my capsule dived into the planet’s surface, I activated the Planet-health Board, which analysed how healthy the planet was. However, to my surprise, it showed that the earth became much unhealthier than when I last visited by a lot. It saddened me alot and and I decided to investigate the cause. 

Finally, I landed in the Pacific Ocean but it did not take long until my reunion turned to disappointment. I was shocked that I had landed on a heap of garbage larger than the continent Australia! And I was more surprised to find out that it was created by humans!

When I went up into the air, I discovered that the temperature of the earth has risen. It was the greenhouse gas which has multiplied by a lot in the air causing the earth to fall sick. This inspired me to use my superpower ‘element manipulation' to solve this problem. 

Firstly, I collected all of the unnecessary greenhouse gases and put it in a special force-field bag. Then, I added the garbage into the bag that is already filled with the gas in order to bring them back into their original form. After having gone through a process using my superpower, I had only tonnes of crude oil left in my bag which then returned to underground where it originally came from. 

Lastly, I had one really important mission to accomplish: Inspiring humans.

They must face the harsh reality in order to be inspired and take action. So, I used my second superpower which is ‘dream-entering’ and ‘dream-weaving.’ I entered people’s dreams and showed them some of the situations that are looking grim: The ice in the poles melting, the droughts and the floods, and also the Siberian mosquito boom. I hope these will help them to realise how critical this climate change is.

Now, it was time for me to go. I used my remaining power to support the people whom I actually inspired as I headed back to my shuttle. Then, in ten seconds, it blasted off, and I was off again, hoping that my actions will help the earth to recover.  

 

What does ‘sustainable living’ mean to you and what action might you need to take as a result? – Rachel 

“We are living on this planet as if we had another one to go to” 
- Terry Swearingen, Nurse and Winner of Goldman Environmental Prize.

Sustainable living is the practice of reducing your demand for natural resources by making sure that you replace what you use to the best of your ability. Sometimes, that can mean not choosing to consume a product that is made using practices that don’t promote sustainability, and sometimes it means changing how you do things so that you start becoming more of an active part of the cycle of life for your future generations. We all know that global warming, gender equality or racial discrimination is a hot issue among the public. Sustainable life, for me, is an essential part of the lifestyle that takes into account eating, transportation, socialisation, energy use, water disposal and many other things in daily life.

The word ‘sustainable’ can be used everywhere around you: your school, your house, gardens, and even at the grocery market where you and your family go to buy some food. The question is ‘How can we make our society sustainable?’ This is where sustainable action takes an important role. For example, protecting natural resources, supporting other people who are living in a poor condition, and trying to prevent the loss of biodiversity all can be sustainable actions. Lots of people at our school, including me, participate in sustainable actions. For me, I have joined the service called ‘Tabitha’, where we were supposed to go to Cambodia and build houses for the Cambodian families. I also participated in ‘sustainable development goals day’ and other events that were related to the global issues held in school. Moreover, there are a number of ways that I can have a more sustainable lifestyle outside the school. Everything I do in my day-to-day life has an impact on the planet. This doesn’t mean that I should start riding bikes everywhere or only eat vegetables. I could make some small changes that will help me to lessen my environmental impact. First thing I can do is to save energy. We are currently in online learning, and therefore we usually use laptops and phones for a long period of time. I often charge my laptop at the same time charging my phone or airpods, even though I have enough battery.

However, I could switch off the standby appliances or charger in order to use less amount of energy. Second, I could avoid using paper and use reusable alternatives. When I say try not to use paper, it doesn't mean to only use my laptop. I could print the documents if necessary and use both sides of the paper. Also, I should use reusable and eco-friendly alternatives instead of single-use products, such as plastic. If I use a paper cup instead of a water bottle, it will definitely cause harm to wildlife as well as the environment. In addition, I could donate unused items. I have a bunch of toys, clothes and stuffed animals that I haven’t used since I was really young. Giving them to a charity shop or someone I know would make use of them to help reduce waste. Sustainable living might seem that it wouldn’t have a big effect on the environment and our community. On the other hand, you should keep in mind that your small actions can actually lead to a sustainable cultural environment that helps to define who we are. 
 

If you had a superpower to change the world what would it be and what would it do? – Sanaya, Grade 3

Water is one of the three most important elements of survival and almost three quarters of the Earth is covered with water.

If I ever had a superpower, I would want to have the Waterpower which would be a very powerful ability that could help humanity in multiple ways. I would enjoy the charm of living in three different states of solid, liquid and gas which is a characteristic of water.

My powers would give me the capability to control the flow of water, avoid it from flooding and allow me to divert water to help the world in times of need. I wish I could get rid of the drought and make enough water available for irrigation and help plants to grow. I could also avoid forest fires from spreading thereby saving millions of trees and animals. With my ability to control the oceans I would be able to stop people from polluting the ocean, overfishing and create a perfect environment for marine life.

My powers will end world thirst as some under privileged people don’t have access to clean, fresh and hygienic water so they have to drink water from unhealthy sources where the water is usually contaminated and make them sick. So, I want to give them clean water to make sure they stay healthy. I will stop natural calamities driven by water like floods, cyclones, hurricanes. People lose their lives due to these natural disasters. They suffer loss of property, livestock, forests which gets destroyed due to nature’s fury. I wish my powers would enable me to convert sea water into fresh water as much as I require which would help me to solve all fresh water problems of the world. I will use my unlimited powers to recycle the waste water which can be reused for multiple purposes.

I will ensure the is a proper distribution of water around the world by being able to move the clouds with my magic wand which will help the crops and make the lives of farmers better as they are a lot dependent on rain water. This will lead to enough of food for the everybody on earth and also solve hunger problems. I wish my powers would also allow me to turn sea water back into ice which would slow down the impact of global warming and help arctic life at the same time.

A single drop of water is precious so it should be used very responsibly.

Hence, I should also be careful not to abuse my power which may lead to terrible things that could happen. I could end up killing thousands of people due to irresponsible use of my power. And I will be held responsible for the destruction of earth. I will ensure to punish people who misuse water as it has become very precious in this world. I wish I would have the magical powers to stop the misuse of water anywhere in the world. While some people struggle to get a few drops of fresh drinking water it is unacceptable for others to waste water. So, it gets extremely important for me to use my water powers to stop the waste and misuse of water.

Lastly, I would want to use my powers to educate the children of this beautiful earth how to use water in a sensible way and maintain the balance of nature for future generations.

Green Girl – Freya, Grade 2

I help the planet 
To stay green 
I use my super power
So the planet can be clean 

Which means 
Don’t be a litter queen 
If someone drops a plastic bottle 
I’ll zap it with my little finger 
And it will disappear 

If a tree gets chopped down 
I will grow a new one so no one will have a frown 

Don’t leave rubbish on the beach 
Because a bird might think it’s something to eat 
With a little bit of luck I’ll send it to the garbage truck 

So that’s what the green girl does 
To save the planet and make it how it was.
 

 My superpower is planting more trees on earth. Trees provide us oxygen and we need oxygen. Sadly, there are not much trees on earth. When I use my superpowers, the world would have more trees. Then we will have more oxygen to breathe. – James, Grade 1