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.

UN Night- LEAF's Campaign

UN Night is coming up on the 10th October and LEAF GC is campaigning for another No Plastic initiative. Everyone is highly encouraged to bring your own plates, cutlery and bowls etc. 

LEAF will also be setting up 2 stalls supplying recycled cornware cutlery and lunch boxes that could be borrowed at a deposit on the night. If you return the cutlery and lunch boxes to the stalls, you will receive your money back, as we want to ensure they are recycled externally. Any extra money from the deposits will go to planting trees in Ladakh. 

Here is the break down of the cutlery and lunch box deposit: (as seen in pictures)

Fork + Spoon - $1
Box - $1

Fork + Spoon + Box - $2

We hope that we can continue from last year's successful initiative and move one step forward in reducing UWC's carbon footprint!

UN Night - Plastic Free!

This UN night, the campus community came together, not only culturally, but environmentally. Through everyone's amazing efforts, we managed to successfully have a Plastic Free evening.

The LEAF team heavily  encouraged people to bring their own bowls and cutlery, whilst also supplying biodegradable cutlery, bowls and paper plates that could be borrowed at a 2$ deposit on the night. There was a pleasantly surprising number of people at the event who brought their own and those who didn't had no other choice but to use the corn-ware cutlery. When people returned their cutlery they received their 2$ back, as we wanted to ensure they were recycled accordingly. However, 550$ were made off the deposits that people did not return and this will go to the planting of 110 trees!

The Earth benefitted and we benefitted. I sure I am getting sick of having plastic in my diet and this was the first significant step to the future eradication in our school community. Thank you all again and stay updated!