UWCSEA, our school, is not only known for being a leader in education but also implementing service and action to the heart of their values. Taking action on climate change, and other environmental issues are one of the most important challenges and issues that face us today.
UWCSEA has done a lot to help with the sustainability of the environment whether that is urban gardening or managing energy sustainably by using photovoltaic solar cells or conserving water or even, just integrate greens space and the natural environment into the school. UWCSEA, both East, and West have been awarded the BCA Green Mark Platinum Award, Singapore’s highest recognition for environmentally-conscious design.
One way the school has been addressing this problem is by implementing a carbon offset tax. A carbon offset tax is a tax on something that produces carbon emissions such as flying an airplane. Let’s say for every hour, one must pay $5.
In order to counterbalance or offset the carbon emissions, that money is used to invest and create something that will absorb those carbon emissions or create an alternative that helps the environment.
For example, planting trees or even install solar cells onto a building that once used coals as their main source of electricity
Well, UWCSEA is doing the same thing. For the Grade 9 and 10 trips (that take an aeroplane), UWCSEA puts a tax of $5 every hour of flight. That money is used to plant poplar trees in Ladakh, a region in Northern India near the Himalayas.
The plan is to plant up to 12,000 Poplar trees. These will be felled and used as structural timbers in traditional Ladakhi houses.
One tree will absorb well over 300 kg of CO2 as it grows, approximately equivalent to that generated by a 1000 mile flight of 2 hours.
So for example, 11 popular trees would help offset the emissions of a 13-hour return flight to London and back.
Once they mature, the trees will provide a major source of income for Lamdon School, year on year helping to secure its charitable status and provide a first class and free education to those who cannot afford to pay.
The trees are carefully sited on the campus so they provide shade in summer, and act as a windbreak in winter for the school hostels, making a huge difference to the lives of Lamdon’s borders, many of whom are orphans. This will hopefully have a benefit on Lamdon campus’ local climate, making it a haven of peace in a very harsh land.
Some of the money is also used to:
- Drilling on campus of a 50 metre deep well.
- Solar Thermal Panels that replaces the need for gas for cooking. To offset carbon dioxide.
- Greenhouse was built to also offset carbon dioxide.
- The purchase and maintenance of solar panels and a solar powered well pump.
- Water storage facilities and piping to trickle irrigate the trees and supply school buildings with a water supply.
Sources:
operations, E. (2018). Education for Sustainable Development – Buildings and operations. Sites.google.com. Retrieved 17 May 2018, from https://sites.google.com/gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg/sustainable-development-uwcsea/planet/buildings-and-operations
Evolution of a sustainable development project: Lamdon School Reforestation Project. (2018). UWCSEA | International school in Singapore. Retrieved 17 May 2018, from https://www.uwcsea.edu.sg/edunia/evolution-sustainable-development-project-lamdon-school-reforestation-project
Leh Ladakh Tour Package From Chandigarh | Thrillophilia. (2018). https://www.thrillophilia.com/. Retrieved 17 May 2018, from https://www.thrillophilia.com/tours/ladakh-calling