Campus Gardeners - A tale of Circular Economists and Social Entrepreneurs

Campus Gardening crew rightly proud of their work on the new pallet planters

There are a lot of Buzz-words around Sustainability at the moment. From the Business pages to the Management sections in bookstores and even in Educational curricula, phrases like the Circular Economy and Social Entrepreneurship are all the rage. Student groups here at Dover however are showing just how simple these big ideas can really be in practice.

Campus Gardening and Edible Schoolyard teams have been using these upcycled builders' pallets salvaged from the High School building site by our Head Gardener Andy Tan. Andy's carpentry skills have turned waste destined for the incinerator into a valuable growing space on a crowded campus.

Waste saved, money saved; a creative and beautiful solution for a sustainable world.

Fresh and tasty Okra has been a big success

With a bit (ok a lot) of guidance from expert Susan Edwards the new Grade 2 Garden space in the new building is yielding its first harvests. The Okra (ladies fingers) has been particularly successful and enjoyed by our landscape team in their lunchtime curries. And just this weekend some peppery rocket was delivered to Dover's very own celebrity chef and social entrepreneur Shen Ming Lee to try in a dish for her Fresco Supper Club. Profits from the enterprise go to support refugee education in Malaysia. So it seems yet another fashionable sustainability concept, Farm-to-Table, can be carried out right here on Campus and help a student's efforts to make business build a better world.

Super-chef Shen takes delivery of the fresh rocket

G2's Urban Garden in our new building

Dover Campus awarded Green Mark Platinum!

As an update to this recent post , it is very exciting to share the news from Director of Operations Simon Thomas that the entire Dover Campus has been awarded Green Mark Platinum by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore. Congratulations to our engineers Kenny and Ramar and of course Simon and the rest of the Facilities Team who have put a huge amount of effort into achieving this. Well done everyone!!!

To give you an idea of the significance of this achievement, read this summary from Simon below....

"As the highest award available in Singapore for buildings designed, built and operated with a focus on resource efficiency and the environment,  it is an important statement on our focus on minimising our environmental footprint where possible and of course minimising our multi-million dollar costs related to our facilities portfolio.

It must also be noted that this was achieved using our internal talent and knowledge without additional green mark consultancy which is considered highly unusual but a testimony to the commitment and expertise of the campus team.

This was not awarded to a single building but similar to the East campus, it has been awarded to the whole campus. We remain the only international school with these awards".

For more information on some of the team's work visit their Negative Watts  blog.

This new research shows that what the team has achieved will have lasting impacts on the education and behaviour of our students.

Now while it's right to shout about this fantastic achievement, of course it's even more reason for all of us, teachers, staff and parents to look for ways in which WE can show our commitment to care for the campus by saving energy and water, reducing waste and keeping it litter free. This will be the best way to say thanks to the team for all the efforts they have put in. Of course if you see them, do pass on your congratulations!

Discounted Drinks! The Cafe Initiative is Back!

Watch this space for details of further changes to pricing around drinks and take-away items as UWCSEA tries to live it mission and tackle its mammoth waste issue. As part of this long-term project there will be a repeat of the students' Cafe Initiative that they carried out successfully with our partners Sodexo last term. Read the details in this message from Grade 12 student activist Samay Bansal:

'Discounted Drinks! The Cafe Initiative is Back!'

"I invite you to consider this statistic;

The amount of plastic waste in the oceans today equates to approximately 5 plastic bags for each foot of coastline.

I am sure you are aware of the rampant increase in plastic usage and waste in society globally and are equally aware that something needs to be done about it.

I would like to inform you about the Cafe Initiative that has been created to do just this. Its aim is to create a system, albeit temporary, that will attempt to cause systemic change within our community. 

The end goal? For the usage of disposable plastics to be reduced/eliminated wherever possible within the campus. It is unrealistic to assume that the school will be 100% plastic free, however, it is within our grasp to use our own cups/mugs/tumblers to purchase our morning's coffee instead of a plastic/paper cup. 

The cafe initiative will run for one week, between the 29th of February and 4th of March and will create a 'VIP' lane in front of the Vive cafe. If you bring your own cup/mug/tumbler, you are welcome to stand in this 'green' line - you will be served before the next 4 people without a cup, will receive at least a 50c discount on any beverage (not just coffee), and will have bragging rights forever!

The 'red' line will consequently be for individuals without their cups and they will need to wait slightly longer. There will be no questions/survey/petitions this time, however, we may ask 'Do you know why this system exists? Was it brought to your attention well in advance?' Again, no personal information will be collected, this is just to get feedback our campaigning strategy.

Note: The red/green lane system will come into play if you need to purchase a drink (and food). If you are only purchasing food you are welcome to enter from the 3rd lane. 

The numbers of people in either line will be tracked closely and the statistics will be shared with the community in the days following...

I seek your understanding and support in this initiative and hope that there is eventually a reduction in the amount of disposable plastics and paper cups used by the community."

Many thanks,
Samay Bansal, Grade 12.