United World College-USA
EN-3: Student Life

There is an Enviro Club on campus whose mission is "to promote a more sustainable future by raising awareness of environmental challenges, encouraging sustainable actions and reducing our ecological footprint at UWC-USA and beyond." Enviro Group has organized various sustainability related events including "Meatings" (talks about the environmental impact of meat consumption), climate actions, and Earth Week. They have also been promoting changes on campus including less meat consumption, the adoption of reusable bags for shopping, and improved recycling. The Enviro Club does not have a website.

The school’s 21 acre Agroecological Research Center, commonly known as the Farm, produces more than 10,000 lbs of produce annually-roughly 30% of the fresh produce comsumed in the cafeteria. The Farm also houses a successful compositing program that reuses cafeteria food waste and wood waste from the campus' forest thinning operations. Students work on the farm through the extracurricular education program and campus service. The farm has also experimented with supplying food to members of the surrounding community through a farm stand at the campus Welcome Center, a community-sponsorred agriculture program, and a sales table for students and staff at the College cafeteria. The farm has also been used for community education programs, while members of the farm crew have assisted other farmers in the region by helping to set up high tunnels on local area farms.
(https://www.facebook.com/UWC-USA-Agroecology-Research-Center-248517285332891/; https://www.uwc-usa.org/about-us/living-sustainably/)

Every year the Bartos Institute for the Constructive Engagement of Conflict at UWC-USA holds a Youth Conference. Every third year the conference has a sustainability theme. The title of the conference in 2016 was "Climate Change & Energy Innovation", while the annual conference for 2020, which will take place on February 20-22, 2020, has a general theme of "Sustainability and Technology." Details of the 2020 conference will be uploaded to https://www.uwc-usa.org/programs-and-workshops/bartos-institute/annual-conference/ as they become available.

UWC-USA provides opportunities for student's to take leadership roles in designing their own initiatives. One student, whose fashion designs had been exhibited in her home country, was particularly concerned about the environmental impact of "fast fashion." To highlight this issue, she collected unused clothes from students and faculty, designed a number of new garments (i.e., up-cycling), and organized a Sustainable Fashion Show, which was held at The SPOT, a community center in Las Vegas. During her second year, she consolidated those activities as an official Experiental Education activity, supervised the work of 14 other students, and is organizing another Sustainable Fashion Show, which will be held during the Spring Semester (2020) in the Plaza Hotel in Las Vegas. The Sustainable Fashion Shows are intended both for UWC students and staff, as well as members of the larger Las Vegas community. (Photos from the event were posted April 29, 2019 on https://www.facebook.com/UWCUSA/)

The Wilderness program at UWC-USA offers all students the opportunity to learn technical backpacking skills such as navigation, camp craft, and Leave No Trace ethics. The Wilderness program and second-year student leaders teach these skills and ethics during Orientation and Southwest Studies. 50+ expeditions are also held throughout the school year. First-year students can choose to participate in a leadership curriculum and gain the skills to facilitate trips for their peers the following year. Each year students from UWC-USA also volunteer with the US Forest Service to do trail work and campsite rehabilitation. The students are taught to carry out any trash they come across on the trail - in the past this has included tents, paddles, and inflatable boats.

In April 2019, students organized a variety of events in celebration of Earth Week. These events included workshops on making natural products (i.e., soap, tooth paste, and lip-balm), as well as information sessions on conscious consumerism and meat consumption. Students plan to hold similar types of events for Earth Week in 2020.

Campus Service: Students at UWC-USA practice personal sustainability by supporting the operation of the school through 2 hours/week of community service on campus. All first-year students participate in a wide variety of service opportunities so they can understand the work necessary to support a school. Second-year students choose a specific service area to pursue, developing greater skill and expertise with the guidance of faculty and staff. Campus service
opportunities at UWC-USA can include:
1) Helping to prepare meals in our kitchen
2) Creating and maintaining mountain bike trails
3) Assisting with erosion control projects
4) Helping with the school’s marketing and social media efforts
5) Maintaining the grounds
6) Operating our campus recycling program
7) Assisting in the library and the campus archives
8) Helping to enhance fire protection by thinning out trees around campus while providing a source of firewood for our employees
Being a part of a campus service project give students a chance to give back to a community. In addition, they engage with the daily operation of the school, not just to assist others, but also to appreciate their new home and understand the value of hard work. (Taken from https://www.uwc-usa.org/about-us/living-sustainably/)