Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, lived a girl called Star. Star yearned to study abroad in the Land of the Rising Sun (aka Japan). But she had convinced herself that she couldn’t do so sustainably.
To not dwell on this, Star cleaned her dumpster-like bedroom. As she cleaned, she stumbled across a gold-coloured desk lamp, passed down by her ‘style-challenged’ siblings. Being an ‘up-cycler’ – aka hoarder – Star insisted on fixing up the lamp. As she rubbed the dust off the lamp, POOF, out popped a person! Star was starstruck as the person introduced herself,
“Hi, I’m Eugene Green, but you can call me Genie.”
It was futile to fight the hallucination, so Star introduced herself and interrogated Genie’s presence.
“I’m here to grant you three wishes”, Genie answered.
Star immediately knew what to wish for. She blurted out, “I wish to travel to Japan sustainably!”
“Your wish is my command!” Genie bellowed. Her fingers danced as if she were conducting a spell. Or so Star assumed. In reality, Genie just used the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to guide her online search for the answer.
Genie replied, “Everyone knows that flying has a significant negative impact on the environment. However, flying with airlines, like British Airways, offsets this. As they launched a sustainability programme that implements things like sustainable aviation fuels.” (SDG 7)
“Perfect!” Star exclaimed. “Next, I wish to know how to explore Japan in an eco-friendly manner.”
“Another easy one”, Genie remarked. She sneaked a quick look at the SDGs again and said, “Japan has excellent public transportation systems, so utilise the trains. Also, take advantage of Japan’s cycling culture and when visiting other prefectures in Japan, stay in sustainable accommodations, like family-owned guesthouses, because these places often use natural, locally-sourced materials, minimising transportation emissions.” (SDG 9)
“Wow, thank you! Finally, I wish to know how to eat sustainably in Japan,” Star wondered.
With one last stolen glance at the SDGs on her phone, Genie replied, “To eat sustainably in Japan, you should support local businesses, minimise waste by only ordering what you can finish, and try to eat more vegan food. Also, take time to understand Japan’s strict recycling system.” (SDG 12)
Now that Star’s three wishes were up, Genie tried, and failed, to slyly put away the phone she’d used for all the answers.
“Wait a minute, you just searched up all the answers on your phone, didn’t you?” Star accused. “I could have just done that myself. I want to choose my wishes again!”
“Too late!” Genie snapped. And before Star could protest, Genie vanished back into the desk lamp.
However, Star’s annoyance was short lived because she realised that, although she was unsure of what she had just experienced, she was certain of one thing: that she would live happily ever after now that she was fully equipped with the knowledge of how to study abroad in the Land of the Rising Sun as sustainably as possible.
