the UW Sustainability blog
Sustainability in the arts, greening health sciences, and certifications for student groups. Selling succulents for sustainability, greening the Greek community, and leading local markets. The students of UW EcoReps work on sustainability initiatives that have an impact on many different aspects of the University of Washington.
This Earth Day, one green-minded club geared up for a big weekend of recycling clothes. For the first time ever, UW EcoReps partnered with Crossroads Trading Company for a fundraiser honoring Earth Day. Members of the local community were encouraged to stop by Crossroads' University Way and NE 43rd St location. If they sold an article of clothing and mentioned EcoReps, $5 was donated to the club's charity of choice.
Henry Milander has always held an interest in sustainability. He spends many Saturday mornings with hands in the dirt, removing invasive plant species and cleaning up local parks through UW Rotaract. Social issues are well on his radar, too; Henry often volunteers his time at organizations that train disadvantaged individuals in culinary arts, and others that alleviate food insecurity.
This has been a busy year for the UW EcoReps. To be honest, we’ve already done so much that it’s hard to boil it all down to a few paragraphs. As a new member and first time officer, I’ve learned a lot about sustainability from working with this group. EcoReps started off the year with only two members, and slowly grew to the 15 volunteers that represent us today. It’s been quite a journey, but one that was well worth the effort!
Judy Twedt credits two things in fostering her interest and love for the natural world: the Pacific Northwest and a scholarly interest in philosophy.
Growing up in the PNW, Twedt loved the powerful mountain landscapes, the bounty of trees and the cold, salty grey water of the Puget Sound. She also remembers having an early interest in the people of the region, something which led her to leave her home of Tacoma to pursue a degree in philosophy at Colorado college.
Though our city isn't known for sunny weather, solar arrays are still a highly viable source of energy for the PNW, and solar panels are starting to appear on rooftops across campus. Solar power installations can be found on the roofs of many West campus residence halls, including Mercer, Elm and Alder.
In 2009, a small group of students started a grassroots campaign to create a student-powered green fund at the University of Washington. The idea quickly gained wide support, and today the Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF) has granted more than $2 million to student-created sustainability projects, giving UW students a chance to shape the future of campus.
Who doesn’t like free swag? We’d like to know what you think about getting freebies at UW events, and how useful they are to you.
Here at UW Sustainability, it is important to us that we maintain and improve our efforts to be environmentally friendly when promoting our office. This means that we want to use giveaway items that are not only sustainable, but are also popular and raise awareness about sustainable behavior.
The third annual Resilience Summit, hosted by student group ReThink, gave attendees perspective on the intersection of business and sustainability. Though the event hosted speakers representing diverse interests, a common question became clear through conversation: how does one incentivize sustainability at a business and citizen level?
ReThink UW is holding its third annual Resilience Summit this Friday, May 19, in the Maple Hall Great Room from 12 - 4 p.m. This year the summit will focus on "incentives," with a discussion on the roles that social and environmental initiatives play within a business framework and what that looks like moving forward.