In Our Nature

If you're interested in games and the environment, sign up for the Sustainability Game Jam this weekend. Inviduals and teams will work Nov. 11-12 to create game concepts and prototypes that promote sustainability. 

Everyone, regardless or background or skill, is welcome. Groups of up to three people can register as a team, or individuals can sign up to be matched to a team. Registered participants should be prepared to commit for most of the weekend. The game jam is intended to provide an immersive environment for creating...

Sambazon and The Ecology Center are looking for students with interesting and innovative sustainability ideas. Winning student projects will receive up to $4,000, along with a Spring semester mentorship from our ecological experts from The Ecology Center.

The “Greenhouse Initiative” competition is open to individuals and student groups. Student must submit a three-minute video by December 3 to enter.

For details and information on how to apply, visit ...

The University of Washington has earned recognition from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) for its sustainability performance, with special recognition in the food & dining and transportation categories.

AASHE's 2017 Sustainable Campus Index lists the UW as the second-rated university in both transportation and food & dining, and...

The Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF) is a student-funded, student-run grant organization for student-driven sustainability projects on campus. Along with a student committee, the CSF has a trio of student employees who help the fund and its projects run smoothly. There are two new faces on the CSF staff this year - along with returning CSF coordinator Kyle McDermott, the CSF welcomes new Outreach Coordinator Whisper St Christopher and its first Project Development Intern, Ian Rose. 

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The November session of our monthly Green Certification Workshop Wednesday will be November 1 at 1:30 - 2 p.m. in Gerberding Hall room G26. These Workshop Wednesdays are monthly open presentation and discussion sessions on the Green Office and Green Lab certifications.

Everyone is welcome to join and learn more about these programs - we'll have a brief presentation, answer questions about the certification application, walk through available resources to...

Judy Twedt credits two things in fostering her interest and love for the natural world: the Pacific Northwest and a scholarly interest in philosophy.

Growing up in the PNW, Twedt loved the powerful mountain landscapes, the bounty of trees and the cold, salty grey water of the Puget Sound. She also remembers having an early interest in the people of the region, something which led her to leave her home of Tacoma to pursue a degree in philosophy at Colorado college.

Though she chose to study philosophy, she never left behind her affection for the environment. By choosing to...

Guest submission by Adam Fehn, UW Recycling Program Coordinator

Once you become familiar with being part of a campus community that's renowned for its sustainability practices, it can be hard to believe that a formal recycling program at University of Washington was established only 26 years ago. Thanks to several key student-lead initiatives, UW Recycling eventually grew to become a team of 14 administrative and operations members that support the entire campus every day.

The seeds were first planted in 1970, when...

The new Green Dawgs program at the University of Washington encourages student groups to make their meetings, events, and member practices more sustainable. The program launched this fall, and is looking for a student Program Outreach Ambassador volunteer.

The outreach ambassador would work up to five hours a week to contact and inform student groups about the Green Dawg Certification program.

This position is best for students interested in environmental sustainability and developing professional outreach skills. The...

The first Washington & Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WOHESC) will be held February 6-8, 2018, at Portland State University. The conference is looking for a UW student Campus Ambassador to promote the conference and represent the University of Washington at WOHESC.

WOHESC is a platform for empowering and inspiring change making, facilitating action, and for sharing, networking, and collaboration related to sustainability within the region's higher education institutions. Campus Ambassadors will help organize, recruit and champion student support for the...

Though our city isn't known for sunny weather, solar arrays are still a highly viable source of energy for the PNW, and solar panels are starting to appear on rooftops across campus. Solar power installations can be found on the roofs of many West campus residence halls, including Mercer, Elm and Alder.

Those panels are in place thanks to the student group UW Solar. UW Solar was started in 2012 "to provide clean and sustainable power production in order to reduce reliance on outside energy resources, improve the...