In Our Nature

The quarter might be almost over, but you can still find plenty of sustainability events happening around campus. Some of the week's highlights are listed below, and you can find out even more items happening on campus this week with our full calendar (we're always adding events as we learn about them, so the full Sustainability Events calendar is also the best place to find the most up-to-date listings and details on all events). If you know of any events which should be added, let us know, and if you'd like to get a...

UW Associate Vice President Ruth Johnston traveled to Stanford University this spring to discuss strategic priorities and partnerships with fellow higher education sustainability leaders.

Johnston serves on the board of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), which for the past 10 years has been strengthening campus sustainability efforts and making sustainable practices the norm within higher education.

During the day and a half retreat at Stanford, Johnston and several other AASHE board members discussed ways of improving local,...

On May 19-21 EcoReps hosted the annual Green Greek Competition, a contest aimed at educating the Greek Community about sustainability and helping chapters go green. The EcoReps group set up tables on the median of 17th Avenue with activities designed to promote sustainable behaviors within the community. During the three days Greek members could participate in games such as a minute-to-win-it waste sorting challenge, trivia, and recycling basketball. Participation earned chapters and individuals points during the three-day competition, while the games also tested the community on their...

A refined Chevy Malibu sits in the far corner of the UW EcoCAR lab as a reminder of UW’s second place finish last year in the three-year automotive engineering EcoCAR2 competition sponsored by General Motors.

The EcoCAR group is hoping to match that success in the current EcoCAR3 competition, a four-year process to redesign a Chevrolet Camaro to be as energy efficient as possible while keeping its performance.

Teams participate in yearly competitions to show of their designs and test their cars. This year...

By Tiffany Loh
This post was originally published on the Campus Sustainability Fund site.

Earlier this year, the CSF awarded a grand total of $105,367 to 6 projects in the first round of funding for 2015. One of the projects proposed innovative adjustments that would optimize the use of a gift Mother Nature likes to shower upon Seattle: rainwater. 

CSF spoke to Amy Kim, Assistant Professor in Civil & Environmental...

Meetings are a way of life at the University of Washington. Informational meetings, brainstorming sessions, presentations, planning meetings, staff huddles… the list goes on.

Meeting etiquette can be strongly ingrained into your office culture, but some UW offices are transforming the way meetings are conducted – whether it’s reducing paper use or introducing a new video conferencing system to eliminate unnecessary office trips.

The UW Green Office Certification Program sets sustainability standards for UW workplaces, encouraging staff members to practice energy and paper...

Welcome to Spring Quarter Week Nine!

Many of the week's highlights in sustainability events are below, and you can find out even more things happening on campus this week on our full calendar. If you know of any events which should be added, let us know. If you'd like to get a weekly email of all the upcoming sustainability events, subscribe here. And we are always adding new events as we learn about them, so see all the details and any last-minute additions on the full ...

Don’t know what to do with your old or damaged clothes? Don't throw them away - many thrift stores, dropboxes and other locations in the area will take them and reuse or recycle them, reducing waste in the landfill.

It doesn't matter if the clothes are ripped, stained, or otherwise damaged - find the nearest donation location instead of putting them in the trash.

The average person throws away 70 pounds of clothing per year, according to the EPA. With...

Graduation is just around the corner, which means it’s time for UW Recycling to gear up for two annual waste diversion events: Students Cleanup, Recycle and Moveout (SCRAM) and Husky Neighborhood Cleanup. Both programs capture unwanted items from thousands of students as they move out of residence halls and the north campus community that is home to Greek Row.

SCRAM

June 8-12, 2015
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Students: Are you interested in sustainable science and engineering? Do you want to network with professionals in this field? If so, please help launch the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I²SL) UW Student Chapter on Wednesday, May 20, from 5-6 p.m. in Allen Research Commons Room Red C.

This will be the very first student chapter of I²SL in the world, and it needs a strong group of undergraduate and graduate...