The Surgical Services Team has made it their priority to promote the health and well-being of patients, staff and the environment. They have been key leaders in Harborview’s environment stewardship and sustainability initiatives, including the formation of the Environmental Sustainability Steering Committee. The team has come up with several ways to reduce the amount of waste generated by their department: recycling clinical/medical plastics before, during and after medical procedures; reusing reusable surgical items, including back table covers, surgical gowns, and surgical towels; and providing on-going staff education on proper segregation of waste. In June 2014, Surgical Services was recognized for their stewardship and sustainability efforts, becoming one of nine hospitals across the country to receive a Circle of Excellence Award for Greening the operation room. Harborview was also one of ten hospitals to receive a Circle of Excellence Award for Chemicals.
Husky Green Awards 2015
The Husky Green Awards celebrated their sixth year of recognizing sustainability leadership at the University of Washington during the 2015 Earth Day celebration in Red Square. Dr. Lisa Graumlich, Dean of the College of the Environment, presented the awards to eight Husky Green Award winners and two Legacy award winners. The Husky Green Awards are given annually to students, faculty and staff from the Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma campuses who show environmental leadership and dedication. See all the 2015 Husky Green Award recipients below, or go to the list of the 2015 nominees.
Harborview Surgical Team
Steven Roberts and Tim Fox
Under Steven’s supervision, Mailing Services has been using a fleet of Hybrid Electric trucks to deliver mail for more than three years in a row, and subscribed to a national junk mail program to reduce unnecessary paper use. He continuously educates campus users on how to remove themselves from national junk mail mailing lists at work and home. Steven’s team is also exploring the use of "Greenvelopes,” reusable pouches made from recycled grocery bags. Currently, the envelopes are being trialed at the UW Tower.
Seven and driver Tim Fox recently introduced a bicycle delivery program that specializes in the transport of light volume mail across campus. The two have begun implementing the idea in the past several months and have already noticed a decrease in the time spent to deliver mail.
UW Bothell Grounds Team
Tyson Kemper and the UW Bothell Grounds staff are making innovative changes on the UW Bothell campus. Under Tyson’s leadership, the campus has been pesticide free since 2006, and is taking steps to getting certified in Organic Land Care, a program designed to promote healthy greenspaces and sustain healthy ecosystems. The crew have also successfully eliminated extra costs by reducing summer grass watering, saving the campus 710,000 gallons of water, and are huge proponents of composting and verimculture. In addition to making a difference on campus, Tyson participates in peer-to-peer training opportunities held at local parks to teach students in the Organic Land Care program and others about environmental sustainability.
Elizabeth Stearns
Elizabeth has worked to create a systems approach for sustainability across the business school. She teaches a Cases in Sustainability class with a systematic and holistic approach to sustainability, as well as promoting this vision in her other classes. She has been an active Net Impact Foster MBA Chapter Board member for nine years, helping foster a space for MBA students to discuss and promote ideas of sustainability. She has influenced many Foster alumni to work for sustainability, and to consider the economic, social and environmental impact of every decision made.
Leanne Do
Since 2008, Leanne has been the lead instigator behind Social Work's widespread use of MiniMax, the UW’s desk-side, self-service waste collection system. Leanne’s education and outreach has increased composting and recycling throughout the UW. She worked to garner community support, writing emails to Deans and the entire School of Social Work’s community about the benefit of using MiniMax. Without her leadership and dedication, MiniMax would not be as popular and widely used throughout the entire campus. She has taken on many leadership roles, including chairing the School’s Staff Council and promoting positive change in the School’s sustainability efforts.
Natalie Gray
Natalie is the Vice Chair of the University of Washington Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF), and one of seven student representatives to the ASUW Board of Directors in charge of delegating funding to student-led projects that reduce UW’s environmental impact. Natalie also leads an undergraduate research team that focuses on water crises in resource-minimal locations and ways to address them. Natalie and her team hope that their published work will be a platform in which the global community can discuss and implement new projects revolving around the alleviation of public health issues concerning access to water, improving local productivity in agricultural systems, and resource sustainability.
Natalie McKinnis
Natalie has worked with over 250 campus partners to eliminate paper handouts at Advising and Orientation (A&O) sessions and created an A&O skit to educate 15,000 first-year students on how to recycle and compost. She has also implemented an online mobile application for Dawg Daze to prevent the printing of 4,700 schedules, decreased the amount of paper used during the hiring process for more than 300 student leaders, and partnered with catering vendors affiliated with the UW Business Diversity Program to ensure that compostable options exist for all business done with the UW.
Natalie has also helped to green the Commuter Commons, a space designed for undergraduate commuter students to focus on academic enrichment and strengthen a sense of community, by stocking compostable plates and utensils, and introducing a system for free tea, cider, or hot cocoa for students who bring their own reusable mug. In collaboration with Transportation Services, Natalie has also introduced real time digital Metro transit information for the bus stop closest to the building.
Tali Haller
Tali, a freshman at UW, volunteered with the Campus Sustainability Fund during her first quarter and continues to be an environmental advocate on campus. She is the Sustainability Chair for Sigma Kappa Sorority and is working towards promoting collaboration between the UW Farm and her sorority. She is working with members of the Sigma Kappa Corporation Board to track light usage in the sorority house and will install motion-sensor lights to minimize excessive use. UW’s Sigma Kappa chapter is acting as the "case study" to show the potential for waste and energy efficiency in Sigma Kappa buildings nationwide. She was also involved in Environmental Alternative Spring Break, a UW program that sent Tali and two other students to Brewster, Washington to facilitate hands-on environmental education for three 6th grade classes.
Legacy Award Winner: JR Fulton
JR is an architect as well as the sustainability manager for UW HFS, where he works to promote a culture of sustainabliity. JR previously facilitated the green building program for UW Capital Projects Office and has been involved in several UW committees including: the Environmental Stewardship Advisory Committee, the Conservation Project Development Team and the UW Climate Action Plan.
Legacy Award Winner: V'Ella Warren
Senior Vice President V'Ella Warren is the chief business and financial officer for the University of Washington. She also serves as Treasurer for the Board of Regents. V’Ella Warren’s commitment to sustainability has accelerated the University of Washington’s social responsibility efforts. She consolidated the University of Washington’s Business Diversity Program and Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability Office under one department in 2008, and these programs have elevated social responsibility within the institution’s strategic goals through V’Ella’s vision and leadership. V’Ella’s contributions have embedded sustainability into the culture of the UW, a contribution that has far reaching social impact to our local and regional community.