UW Recycling's blog

Sustainability is part of the fabric of the University of Washington. One of the ten goals in the UW Sustainability Action Plan is to produce ten percent less solid waste by 2025. This means reducing the amount of waste the UW sends to the landfill by ten percent.

Rethinking and reusing items are some of the most impactful ways to move towards our goal. Programs across the UW focus on rethinking and promoting reuse. Below are programs offered at the UW Seattle campus.

The phrase recycling contamination isn’t clear to people outside of the waste industry. Let’s break it down:

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, contaminate means "to soil, stain, corrupt, or infect by contact or association" or "to make inferior or impure by admixture." In recycling, a contaminant is something that should not be in recycling because it can degrade other materials or the recycling process.

Winning pieces use art to spark conversations about waste

For the fifth year, artists from around the UW created dazzling art pieces in the annual Trash Art Contest.

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

UW Recycling is now accepting entries for the 2024 Trash Art Contest! Participants must create an art piece from items normally thought of as waste or a literary piece about waste.

Categories include:

• 2D art
• 3D art
• Textile art
• Literature

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.

Artists from around the UW created astounding art pieces from trash in the fourth annual Trash Art Contest.

UW Recycling received 23 submissions from UW students, faculty and staff. Five winning pieces were selected in three categories. The artwork needed to be created from items normally thought of as trash or a written work about waste and sustainability. Artists were asked to express feelings or ideas about waste, or a sustainability topic that relates to waste.

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. Here are some ways you can get involved.

UW Recycling is excited to host another Trash Art Contest for 2023!

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.

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.

If you are moving out of an HFS residence hall or apartment, you can donate certain items through the UW’s SCRAM (Student Cleanup, Recycle and Moveout) event. Donations will go to various local organizations including the University District Food Bank, Northwest Center and DESC.

Five winners transformed trash into stunning art pieces in the third annual UW Trash Art Contest.

The contest, organized by UW Recycling, received more than 20 submissions from students, faculty and staff in the categories of literature, 2D art and 3D art. The artwork needed to be created from items normally thought of as trash. Artists were asked to express feelings or ideas about waste, or a sustainability topic that relates to waste.

This year's winners were: