Residence halls

With a new water conservation system put into place, Mercer Court is revolutionizing the way students do laundry.

HFS uses a cistern, a tank used to catch and store rainwater for the purpose of delivering laundry services to more than 1,300 students living in the apartment complex. JR Fulton, HFS's capital planning and sustainability manager, says that about 90 to 95 percent of water used in the washing machine is coming from the cistern.

Graduation is just around the corner, which means it’s time for UW Recycling to gear up for two annual waste diversion events: Students Cleanup, Recycle and Moveout (SCRAM) and Husky Neighborhood Cleanup. Both programs capture unwanted items from thousands of students as they move out of residence halls and the north campus community that is home to Greek Row.

Hanging in Poplar Hall is a Lucid Energy Dashboard to remind students how much energy and water they are using. This same dashboard hangs in all the West Campus dorms, something one student group is very proud of.

The dashboards allow students to see how their building is performing compared to the others, which encourages conservation. The displays are one reminder of a larger sustainability culture in the residence halls, a culture Students Expressing Environmental Dedication (SEED) is working to encourage.

If you're a UW student living in a residence hall, we need your help this weekend!

The annual One Thing Challenge is a competition between UW and Washington State University to see which campus is committed to being the greenest. The school with the most participants will gain bragging rights and the ceremonial awarding of the One Thing Cup - a trophy made from recycled materials.