In Our Nature

Gov. Jay Inslee joined students at the University of Washington - and several other campuses around the state via videoconference - for a conversation on climate change this week.

The event, which allowed students to pose questions to the governor, was hosted by the College of the Environment and Dean Lisa Graumlich. Inslee had recently returned from the COP21 Climate Change talks in Paris, which led to an international agreement to combat climate change.

"What happened in Paris is a chance for us to succeed. It's not a done deal. It's set the stage for what we have to...

The UW Tower Data Center has been ENERGY STAR certified for the third year in a row - one of just 14 data centers in the country to have been certified each of the last three years.

The UW Tower Data Center provides managed space, power and cooling of critical infrastructure supporting IT departments campus-wide. It is one of only two university data centers to have ever earned ENERGY STAR...

Suzanne Zitzer is committed to sustainability! She was one of the driving forces (along with a former colleague) behind getting the College of the Environment Dean's Office certifed as a Green Office back in 2013 and has been focusing on green office practices ever since.

Before the College of the Environment Dean's Office was green certified, Suzanne noticed the office was using a large amount of paper and printing single-sided, as well as leaving lights on in the office kitchen. Since going through the certification process, the office has...

By Lindsey Boisvin, Facilities Services’ Sustainability Communications Intern

The Burke-Gilman Trail is swamped with puddles and leaves, but that isn’t stopping Ride in the Rain bike riders.

Beginning Nov. 1, UW students, faculty, and employees created teams to take on one of the rainiest months of the year as part of the Ride in the Rain challenge. Each individual logged trips longer than 0.25 miles online to attempt to meet 50,000 trips across all teams.

Facilities Services staff have taken on the challenge for the past few years. This year, employees within...

EcoReps is continuing its Green Greek Representatives blog segment with Dylan Reynolds from the Phi Kappa Psi Fraternity, who discussed the new waste fines:

"Family households will face small fines for infractions, only $1 per can found to contain recyclables and compostables. However, larger properties such as apartments -- or greek houses -- will face a $50 fine per infraction. Previously this issue was a moral one, based on whether or not you chose to lead a sustainable lifestyle. Now, it appeals to a much higher power: financial reasons. And any honest member of...

The UW Farm is currently gauging interest and seeing which time slots would work best for an Agroecology Reading Group in Winter 2016, led by Professor Jennifer Ruesink.

This will be a weekly seminar in which students, staff and/or faculty read and discuss articles covering various aspects of agroecology. Agroecology represents the interaction of farming with the environment, in which "environment" can be variously defined in terms of how much of the human environment is included. The scope of "environment" covered by the readings will be modified according to participant interest....

The U District Partnership is hosting a community clean-up on the Ave this Saturday from 9-11 a.m. 

From the event's page: 

The U District Partnership is a nonprofit dedicated to a vibrant, innovative, and diverse University District.
Through vital community clean-ups, we take ownership of our community by ensuring a clean environment for our neighbors and those who visit the U District. Safe, clean equipment for cleaning up trash is...

Does this picture stress you out? It stresses me out - having stacks of paper everywhere feels unorganized, cluttered and chaotic. But there's a solution! Follow these simple tips for reducing paper in your office or home:

• Opt for using an online note taking application. Instead of writing notes or to do lists on a sheet of paper, use an online resource such as One Note, Evernote or Google Docs. 
• If you must print, print double sided. It cuts back on paper by 50% and also makes large documents easier to manage. (Check out the managing print services tab on our...

A committee of faculty from the College of Built Environments, the College of the Environment, and the College of Arts and Sciences are in the process of developing a proposal for a new Interdisciplinary Food Studies Minor, and they need your help.

UW students can help make sure the new minor is interesting, useful and relevant to students by answering a quick 10-question survey, which will help assess student demand. 

The survey is open to any student with a UW netID, so please help spread the...

The UW Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration has two open student internship positions for the winter quarter. The interns will work with SER-UW's native plant nursery and could fill a variety of roles, depending on the applicants.  The nursery is located on campus at the Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH). It is a student run operation that provides plants to the on-campus restoration projects that SER-UW manages. This year, with the support of...