In Our Nature

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 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...

It's time for another Green Certification Workshop Wednesday!

Join us for the upcoming Green Certification Workshop Wednesday on October 4 from 1:30-2p.m in Gerberding Hall room G26 (one floor down from the Red Square entrance).

These Green Certification workshops are held on the first Wednesday of each month. Everyone is welcome to join and learn more about our Green Office and Green Laboratory certification programs. We'll have a brief...

UW Sustainability offers a quarterly undergraduate seminar series through First Year Programs that gives students the opportunity to explore sustainability at UW and beyond. The fall quarter seminar explores sustainability efforts across UW and resources on campus such as the UW Sustainability campus map, UW Recycling programs, and the student-administered Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF).

The one-credit course is listed as GEN ST 297-V and meets Fridays at 2:30 p.m.

See course details on the...

There is still space available to register for a studio course which gives you a chance to work on creating video games about earth science. 

EarthGames is a community of researchers, game developers and students who share a passion for games and the environment. They adapt the latest scientific research to develop amazing video and board games to teach and inspire players about the natural world and our role within it. This fall, you can help and earn credit through ATMS 495, a studio course open to all majors. The course meets Mondays at 1:30-3:20 p.m.

Learn more about...