Recycling, Compost & Waste

Trucks stationed in the middle of Greek Row on Friday afternoon were ready to collect items students couldn't take with them for the summer, including goods like electronics and refrigerators.

UW Recycling, in partnership with Seattle Public Utilities and the UW Office of Regional Relations, is offering free disposal of unwanted items to students moving out of the north campus area as part of the Husky Neighborhood Cleanup. Reusable items are donated to local charities, and things that can't be reused are recycled or disposed of.

Spring quarter is nearly over, which means students will be packing up in preparation for summer moves. Often, this means discovering that you have more stuff than you can (or want to) take with you, but don't throw those unwanted items away! UW Recycling is making it easy for students to donate or dispose of unwanted items.

By Mishu Pham-Whipple

For the second year in a row, University of Washington's Seattle campus came in first among its Pac-12 competitors in overall waste reduction during RecycleMania, a national collegiate waste diversion tournament. With an overall reduction rate of 55%, the University ranked number 25 on a list of 207 competing institutions.

Kathryn Jansen is the UW Department of Surgery's medical student program operations specialist. After noticing that the department didn't have compost and recycling bins readily available, Jansen made it a priority to add several to the department's break and conference rooms.

"We produce a ton of coffee grounds and filters, along with other food waste, while trying to keep our staff and residents caffeinated all day and night," said Jansen. "I would see the garbage bin overflowing with items that could be composted."

By Mishu Pham-Whipple

What do wheelchairs and sustainability have in common?

The Tobacco Action Group (TAG), UW American Lung Association (ALA), and Students Expressing Environmental Dedication (SEED) are hosting Huskies Kick Butts, a campus-wide cigarette butt cleanup that will raise awareness of the tobacco industry's impact on climate change and the need for UW to adopt a tobacco-free campus policy.

Update 4/18: The Salvage Wood Program was named one of the seven 2016 Husky Green Award winners.

The Salvage Wood Program at the University of Washington is working to make sure any trees which need to be removed on campus can have a second life.

The program, run by Grounds Management and made possible by a Campus Sustainability Fund grant and help from the UW chapter of Engineers Without Borders, turns those removed trees into lumber for projects on campus such as benches and tables.

Beginning February 8, the University of Washington will be competing for the fourth year in RecycleMania - a friendly tournament where national college campuses compete during the course of eight weeks to see which can reduce, reuse and recycle the most on-campus waste. The UW will take on nationwide universities including Pac-12 rivals Arizona State University, Stanford, University of California Berkeley, University of Oregon and Washington State University.