In Our Nature

The PreCycle Innovation Challenge offers free training and cash prizes for students who have an idea to reduce waste in Washington through innovative entrepreneurship.

The challenge is a pitch competition for the best product, service, or idea that primarily addresses waste reduction. The program is hosted by Seattle Good Business Network and Zero Waste WA, with partial funding from the WA State Department of Ecology. It is open to businesses, individuals, and student teams seeking to...

The UW 2023 Trash Art Contest categories include literature, 2D and 3D art. Participants must create an art piece from items normally thought of as trash or a literary piece about waste. Art pieces should express feelings or ideas about waste, or a sustainability topic that relates to waste. This contest is open to all UW students, faculty and staff starting February 15.

Submissions are due March 22, 2023 at 4 p.m. PST. Winners for each category will receive $100 or $50 gift cards to a low waste store.

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Campus Race to Zero Waste (CRZW) starts this week at the University of Washington! For the eleventh year, the UW will be participating in the friendly recycling and waste reduction competition between colleges and universities. As part of CRZW, UW Recycling is organizing activities to focus on good waste sorting practices. Read about some ways you can get involved.

The Sustainability staff at the UW Bothell, Tacoma and Seattle campuses are jointly hosting a Winter speaker series around Climate Change and Food Systems. The series will include virtual events, as well as an in-person event on each of the three campuses. Events will be weekly from January 18 to February 22.

Please register to receive the Zoom link for any of the virtual events, as well as to indicate interest in the in-person events.

Register now...

UW Sustainability's "In Our Nature" podcast's latest episode goes in-depth on Energy Conservation at the University of Washington with Norm Menter, the Assistant Director for Energy, Utilities and Operations with UW Facilities. Since 2013, Norm has managed the UW's Energy Conservation program. He talks about what the UW is doing around energy conservation, why it's important, and how it is the foundation for the university's strategy for decarbonization...

Washington has a free intern program for businesses to host a full-time, 10-week intern to conduct onsite or virtual research at your business. The Washington Applied Sustainability Internship (WASI) Program is jointly administered by Washington Sea Grant and the Washington State Department of Ecology. WASI is a summer internship program designed to link dedicated engineering, chemistry, sustainability and environmental sciences students with business and industry in Washington....

The Washington State Department of Ecology is encouraging groups working on food waste to be a partner in Food Waste Prevention Week happening April 10-16. 

Food Waste Prevention Week is a national awareness and education movement including online and in-person events. Cities, states, universities and other organizations have partnered around the effort.

For organizations interested in becoming a partner, there are two upcoming national Partner Info Sessions:

• Tuesday, January 24, 10 a.m. PST:...

Cole Young is currently a junior pursuing a double degree in Industrial Design and Sociology, and has recently begun working as the UW Sustainability Graphic Designer. Cole is especially interested in exploring how sustainable practices and goals can inform design and lead to more positive outcomes for both consumers and the environment. With his studies in Sociology, he also hopes to better understand social structures and how design could be used to address different societal issues in order to make positive and lasting impacts on vulnerable communities. Cole is therefore very...

As my first calendar year with UW Sustainability comes to a close, I want to take this opportunity to reflect on what we've accomplished over the past year and our focus areas for  2023.

I joined UW Sustainability in May of 2022, and the past few months have flown by, as I’ve met with many staff, faculty, and students to learn about their fantastic sustainability efforts..While I still have much to learn and more people to connect with, I continue to be amazed and inspired by all the depth and breadth of sustainability work across the University. I’m also excited about the...

The University of Washington has begun developing its new Energy Transformation Strategy. This multi-year strategy will transition how the Seattle campus heats and cools buildings - from burning natural gas to produce steam, toward a new clean energy system that will use electricity to heat and cool the campus.

Part of this process is engaging with people across the UW to provide information on this Energy Transformation and listen to concerns and ideas from the community. November 28 was the kickoff of a new Student Energy Taskforce, which will provide a way for students to...