Last week, I was part of UW Sustainability's team at the first UW Safety, Sustainability, and Preparedness Expo, letting UW community members know about our Green Certification prgrams for offices and labs on campus.
The expo was organized by UW Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S), Finance and Facilities (F2), UW Sustainability and Emergency Management to educate UW community members about the various environmental and safety initiatives occurring on campus, and about 550 people came by the event at the HUB to check out the information offered by more than 70 exhibitors.
Throughout the event, UW community members came to the UW Sustainability tables with great questions on our office’s work. At our office’s main table, guests were visibly excited to learn how to improve their environmental practices both at work and at home.
At our Green Certifications table, we introduced staff from various departments to the Green Labs and Green Office programs, and many expressed interest in participating. These programs are meant chiefly to encourage UW lab and administrative office members to be more conscious of their environmental impact, and that mission really resonated with those I talked to at the expo. In fact, a few lab members from the Bioengineering, Fisheries, and Genome Sciences departments filled out the Green Labs application within a day of the event.
It is rewarding to see others buying into our mission, and I look forward to continuing to raise awareness about the Green Certification programs.
If your lab or office is already certified, spread the word to your peers! If you work in a lab or office and are not certified, certify today! All certified labs and offices receive free coffee from Husky Grind and are recognized with a certificate. To apply for Green Certification, go to the appropriate link below.
Green Labs: sustainability.uw.edu/green-laboratory/apply
Green Office: sustainability.uw.edu/green-office/apply