Karina Mazhukhina's blog

After 548 days, more than 80 articles and so many environmental lectures and events I've lost track, my time with the UW Sustainability office is officially coming to a close.

The University of Washington is offering a Green Chemistry and Chemical Stewardship Online Certificate program. For those interested, there will be complimentary online information sessions on August 22 and September 14.

Imagine a floating mass of plastic twice the size of Texas spanning thousands of miles in the open ocean. Now realize that actually exists. Located between Hawaii and California and stretching all the way to Japan, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest floating ocean garbage site in the world, with plastic pieces outnumbering sea life six to one. And that’s not the only garbage disposal on the planet – there are four more gyres in the oceans where plastic pollution collects in large quantities.

Dozens of UW students have traveled over the last few years to La Vega del Volcan, a remote village high in the mountains of Guatemala. The students listened to community members discuss some of the problems facing the village, and worked to help develop sustainable solutions.

Since January 2014, UW Engineers Without Borders (EWB) has been working on completing a multi-purpose community center in the area. The UW team is traveling back this upcoming winter break to finish building the outdoor superstructure. 

Here in the Pacific Northwest we’re so accustomed to being surrounded by nature that we take it for granted. We have neatly paved trails with swarms of trees on our right and left, we can drive for miles on end and be surrounded by luscious evergreens and shrubs on either side, or we can go for a hike and see a variety of wildlife before our eyes.

Whether we like to admit it or not, the burning of fossils has negatively impacted our environment for quite some time now. And although we can do our part in reducing our carbon footprint, alleviating the large-scale effects of global warming lies within the grasps of the U.S. government and fossil fuel companies who follow the guidelines our administration sets.

Currently, there is no incentive for companies to use cleaner energy, let alone stricter regulations or laws calling for cleaner practices, allowing corporations to keep reaping the benefits of fossil fuel production.

Tucked behind an assortment of trees along UW's Stevens Way is a garden unknown to many. The UW Medicinal Herb Garden is home to about 1,000 plants from around the world, spread out across seven plots, and provides a relaxing escape from the surrounding campus.

The garden hasn't always been as richly populated as it is today. There's one man in particular who has doubled the plant collection over the last 20 years.

Americans only make up five percent of the world’s population, yet we produce about a quarter of the world’s garbage.

I was surrounded by a row of fields covered with a variety of crops, ready to learn what the UW Farm was up to this summer. Ellie Garcia handed me a tiny plum, one of the many fruits available at the farm, before detailing her experiences working there.

Recent UW graduate Jesus Martinez-Gomez never imagined moving from a small farming community in Ferndale to cultivating his passion for science at the University of Washington.