the UW Sustainability blog
Jessica Kaminsky is an Assistant Professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at the University of Washington. A scholar of engineering projects and organizations, she conducts research on infrastructure for developing communities with a particular interest in topics of social sustainability. As part of the UW's Earth Day celebration, she gave a talk on how cultural values impact sustainability. Read the text below:
The UW Society for Ecological Restoration's Native Plant Nursery is hosting a Native Plant Sale this weekend. On Sunday, May 1, come out to the Douglas Research Conservatory at the Center for Urban Horticulture from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and support your local, student-run nursery. They will be selling a variety of native plants, including Douglas Fir, Vanilla Leaf, Salmonberry and many more!
UW Earth Club president Aaron Tam introduced the club's "Tap That" campaign during the Earth Day celebration, a project that is working to reduce the use of plastic water bottles on campus. Tam is a currently a senior at the University of Washington studying Environmental Science: Wildlife Conservation and Political Science. He's passionate about environmental and socioeconomic justice, and is proud to have contributed greatly to climate action in Washington and campus sustainability efforts.
Barbara Clabots of the Seattle Surfrider Foundation was the introductory presenter at the University of Washington's Earth Day celebration. Clabots is a social scientist focused on improving ocean conservation. Locally, she serves the community as Seattle Surfrider's Volunteer Coordinator to improve water quality in the Puget Sound, leading a program to eliminate cigarette litter.
Hundreds of community members and students gathered on red square in honor of the 46th anniversary of Earth Day at the University of Washington.
"It's important to spread awareness about how involved the UW is in making our campus more environmentally friendly," said junior Itzel Medina, one of the many students who came to celebrate the event. "Sustainability really matters."
Project Tap That is a student campaign to educate UW students about the harmful effects of plastic bottles and promote the use of reusable bottles with tap water.
They'll be kicking off their education and outreach campaign during the Earth Day celebrations on Red Square. Stop by the UW Earth Club or UW Sustainability tables to learn about the benefits of using a reusable water bottle instead of buying bottled water, and you might have a chance to pick up a Tap That reusable water bottle of your own!
Coming up on May 6 and 7, the UW Botanic Gardens invites you to join our 2016 BioBlitz at the Washington Park Arboretum! A BioBlitz is an intense period of biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within a designated area.
The UW Office of Admissions recently started a transition from paper-based applications to a digital process. On April 14, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions David Sundine joined us for a Green Bag talk on the process and the benefits of the new system.
It's Earth Week!
Earth Day is this Friday, April 22, but our planet deserves more than just a day. There are events happening throughout this week across campus, all gearing up to our Earth day celebration in Red Square on Friday. I've detailed the events hosted by UW Earth Club and UW Sustainability - check out our Earth Day events page for the full list of campus events.
Today (Friday, April 8) the student group EcoReps wants to help you freshen up your wardrobe while getting rid of your unwanted clothes without tossing them in the trash.
The EcoReps are hosting a clothing swap on Red Square today from 2-5 p.m. Bring your gently-used clothes and swap them for new-to-you items - help reduce waste while revamping your wardrobe. Just look for the EcoReps tables on Red Square to start swapping clothes.