Many things have surprised me since I arrived in Houston.  I have been amazed by the scale of the freeways, and the car parks that serve the shops and churches beside them.  I have been astonished how difficult it is to access basic services like gas, water, electricity, telephones and television without an established local credit rating - unlike anywhere I have lived before, the credit card companies and the banks here seem to be incapable of accessing a person’s credit history in other countries (or maybe they are unwilling or simply too lazy to do so).  I am continually impressed by the wonderful hospitality and openness of everyone I meet in meet in Houston.  I have found Houston’s public transport system to be as bad as Hong Kong’s is brilliant.  And I have been dumbfounded by the lack of support for basic environmentally responsible practices such as recycling.

The local community where I live has no collections for recycling. I was told that a collection service did operate a few years ago, but it was stopped for reasons that no-one seems to understand.

Fortunately, Awty has better environmental credentials than Houston in general.  We have already already implemented some significant environmental initiatives over the past few

years, including a student-run recycling program that is generously supported by a five-year grant from ConocoPhillips and Total, and coordinated by Mr. Robert Sload.  Our Environmental Club, under the leadership of Ms Kristi Winegarden, is engaging in a significant ongoing program of environmental service by helping to clean up the bayou waterways and remove invasive vegetation species from Cypress Creek (Kristi is shown at the left of the photo above-right with some of the students doing a clean-up last week).  Furthermore, our new classroom building that is presently under construction near the main entrance has been designed to rigorous environmental standards, and will be LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified by USGBC (The United States Green Building Council) when it is completed.

Despite the importance of these initiatives, I am convinced that we can do better.  Sustainability is important for Awty for three reasons: (a) the positive environmental impact it has for the wider community, (b) the educational role it plays in forming young people with long-term environmentally responsible attitudes, and (c) the role Awty can play as a role model of best practice for other schools in Houston.   

In that context, I was delighted to announce the appointment of Ms Kristie Winegarden as our first Sustainability Coordinator on Friday.  This is a new position at Awty that has been created to acknowledge the importance of promoting and implementing environmentally sustainable practices.  Supported by the hard work of our students, she will be looking to enhance our recycling program, raise community-wide awareness of sustainable environmental practices, and she (with some students) will become key contributors in the implementation of our master plan for future development of the campus.

Awty is the first school in Houston to acknowledge the importance of environmental sustainability by appointing a Sustainability Coordinator.  (Of course, anyone who knows Awty well will not be surprised that we are well in the lead of this race!).  I am sure that Ms Winegarden's appointment as Sustainability Coordinator will further raise the profile of environmental sustainability within Awty, enhancing our energy saving strategies, our recycling capabilities, and our overall environmental awareness as we seek to develop our campus through the master plan in the years ahead.

As promised in my blog last week, I have included a few photos here of last Friday’s music concert by Middle and Upper School students, and beneath those images are some photos of Friday’s costume parade by our Pre-Kindergarten students.  As usual, please click on any image to enlarge it.  (I am grateful to Awty’s Advancement Office for the use of these images).

As you can see, it has been yet another fabulous week at Awty.

FOOTNOTE: as a follow-up to my blog on 1st October, the world’s media have continued to show interest in the entry of Kim Jong Il’s grandson to the United World College in Mostar (Bosnia-Herzegovina).  A Google search will reveal many of these articles, but one of the most insightful has been a 4 minute radio item released this week that contains an interview with me about my role in the student’s selection.  It can be accessed HERE, and a transcript with some supplementary photographic and video material can be seen HERE.  Another item that may be of interest is a very perceptive opinion piece in the South China Morning Post, which can be seen in the top right hand corner of THIS FILE.