Supporting UWCSEA East activities in their journey to Zero Waste

Toward the unified UWC mission for Sustainability, our Activities department has started their own journey to Zero Waste together with the support of the Service & Sustainable Development Team. We are excited to share about the progress that has been made and what more is to come!

Activities’ first focus was on the South East Asia Student Activities Conference which hosts three sports competitions a year, as well as Model United Nations. These events involve more than 300 athletes and students, all hosted within our campus. Their approach was multi-faceted, consisting of avoiding single-use plastics, maximising energy savings on lighting and air-conditioning, and creating a menu in which 50% of the food was plant-based.

For the event, activities also engaged one of our Environmental Initiatives called Sustainabrew, which helped to produce isotonic drinks for all the athletes involved. The profits from the sales of these drinks go to a Global Concerns group called Jakarta Street Kids which supports street children in Jakarta, Indonesia. From regeneration to celebration, the team had also moved forward to awarding bespoke rewards like luggage tags, mugs, or bags made by the Jakarta Street Kids organisation instead of trophies. All this is done to achieve the goal of having a positive environmental and social impact.

These changes have heavily impacted the 50 schools that are part of the SEASAC. Under the leadership of our Head of HS Activities, Gavin Dinsdale, they have signed a commitment to reducing the environmental impact of their events and to ensuring a positive impact in the communities around the school. Now it is all about implementation!