In Our Nature

This year UW Sustainability is celebrating 10 years of working to advance sustainability at the UW!

Our mission began in 2008 when we were formed as the Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability Office, a small team of two staff and two students under the leadership of then-Senior Vice President V'Ella Warren and then-Associate Vice President Ruth Johnston (who is now helping lead UW Bothell as the Vice Chancellor of Planning & Administration). Today, we;re known as UW Sustainability, and I have had the privilege of working with passionate staff and students

As we've...

You see the red bikes at racks across campus. Are you already a pro at using bike share to get around campus, or are you wondering how to get started? If you have questions, we've got answers.

The UW has partnered with Lime for dockless bike share on campus. Lime offers electric-assist bikes (which give you a boost as you pedal to get around the city more easily) as well as regular geared bikes. The bikes can be found and dropped off throughout Seattle as well as the UW campus.

How it works

Using the Lime bikes is easy:

1. First, download the ...

How often do you sit down to a meal and think about the journey it took to arrive in front of you? Like most of us, probably not that often. In the age of take-out meals and cheap frozen dinners, it’s easy to disregard thinking about where your food comes from, where it goes, and who it affects.

As food moves from farm to table, it affects everyone in the system. From the farmers to the consumers, and everyone else along the way, issues of food justice and food sovereignty greatly impact communities all around the world.

Thankfully, there is growing conversation on rebuilding...

The Washington & Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WOHESC), taking place at UW on February 25 - 27, 2019, is currently looking for session and speaker proposals. The submission deadline was recently extended to October 15 - students, faculty and staff are encouraged to submit session proposals on their sustainability work or case studies to share with people from schools across our region.

Submissions can cover any topic area related to sustainability. WOHESC is looking for proposals which will provide attendees...

The University of Washington is hosting the 2019 Pac-12 Sustainability Conference, the first collegiate sustainabilty conference focused on integrating sustainability into college athletics and across college campuses. The Pac-12 is committed to using the power of sport to promote healthy, sustainable practices to its campus communities and among Pac-12 fans. 

The conference will be held June 25-26, 2019, and proposals for case studies, speakers and conference sessions are due Nov. 30, 2018.

See the...

Work on creative, innovative solutions to environmental problems this Fall as part of the Environmental Innovation Practicum through the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship. This weekly, two-credit seminar helps students discover how cleantech solutions are addressing pressing environmental issues, and how they can be part of those solutions.

You'll learn from subject matter experts and professionals in the field, and gain hands-on experience in developing business solution concepts addressing environmental challenges. The practicum can also help students prepare for the ...

Fall quarter is nearly here, and it's Dawg Daze time! Whether you're a new student on campus or returning for another year, these Dawg Daze events will give you a good introduction to sustainabiltiy efforts on campus, and some ideas on how you can get involved.

Sustainability walking tour

Friday, September 21
meet at Drumheller Fountain, 1 p.m.

Explore a few of UW's sustainability features, from innovative buildings to secluded green space. Join UW Sustainability for a walking tour highlighting just a few reasons UW's campus is a leader in...

The University of Washington has received recognition as a national leader in sustainability by the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The UW is among the top universities and earned special recognition for its sustainability work in the transportation, food & dining, and wellbeing & work categories.

AASHE's 2018 Sustainable Campus Index lists the UW as...

UW Medicine hospitals are leaders in sustainability - UWMC and Harborview have both been named among the 25 greenest hospitals in the country for several years in a row. Check out this nifty infographic on some of the ways UW Medicine is working to reduce its environmental footprint, and keep up on sustainability efforts in UW Medicine and across UW's health sciences at our Sustainabiltiy and Medicine (SAM) page.

Update: The submission deadline for WOHESC 2019 has been extended to October 15, 2018. 

The University of Washington is hosting the Washington & Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WOHESC) February 25 - 27, 2019. WOHESC is currently looking for session and speaker proposals. The submission deadline is Oct. 5, 2018 - see below for more details.

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