In Our Nature

Guest submission by Adam Fehn, UW Recycling Program Coordinator

Once you become familiar with being part of a campus community that's renowned for its sustainability practices, it can be hard to believe that a formal recycling program at University of Washington was established only 26 years ago. Thanks to several key student-lead initiatives, UW Recycling eventually grew to become a team of 14 administrative and operations members that support the entire campus every day.

The seeds were first planted in 1970, when...

The new Green Dawgs program at the University of Washington encourages student groups to make their meetings, events, and member practices more sustainable. The program launched this fall, and is looking for a student Program Outreach Ambassador volunteer.

The outreach ambassador would work up to five hours a week to contact and inform student groups about the Green Dawg Certification program.

This position is best for students interested in environmental sustainability and developing professional outreach skills. The...

The first Washington & Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WOHESC) will be held February 6-8, 2018, at Portland State University. The conference is looking for a UW student Campus Ambassador to promote the conference and represent the University of Washington at WOHESC.

WOHESC is a platform for empowering and inspiring change making, facilitating action, and for sharing, networking, and collaboration related to sustainability within the region's higher education institutions. Campus Ambassadors will help organize, recruit and champion student support for the...

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.

Those panels are in place thanks to the student group UW Solar. UW Solar was started in 2012 "to provide clean and sustainable power production in order to reduce reliance on outside energy resources, improve the...

It's time for another Green Certification Workshop Wednesday!

Join us for the upcoming Green Certification Workshop Wednesday on October 4 from 1:30-2p.m in Gerberding Hall room G26 (one floor down from the Red Square entrance).

These Green Certification workshops are held on the first Wednesday of each month. Everyone is welcome to join and learn more about our Green Office and Green Laboratory certification programs. We'll have a brief...

UW Sustainability offers a quarterly undergraduate seminar series through First Year Programs that gives students the opportunity to explore sustainability at UW and beyond. The fall quarter seminar explores sustainability efforts across UW and resources on campus such as the UW Sustainability campus map, UW Recycling programs, and the student-administered Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF).

The one-credit course is listed as GEN ST 297-V and meets Fridays at 2:30 p.m.

See course details on the...

There is still space available to register for a studio course which gives you a chance to work on creating video games about earth science. 

EarthGames is a community of researchers, game developers and students who share a passion for games and the environment. They adapt the latest scientific research to develop amazing video and board games to teach and inspire players about the natural world and our role within it. This fall, you can help and earn credit through ATMS 495, a studio course open to all majors. The course meets Mondays at 1:30-3:20 p.m.

Learn more about...

The Society for Ecological Restoration UW Chapter's native plant nursery is looking for two interns for the fall quarter - a communications intern and a plant propagation & production intern. Interns will work an average of nine hours a week on nursery projects, and can receive credit for ESRM 399 or through their school. Time will be split between routine plant maintenance, plant propagation, nursery infrastructure projects, helping with weekly volunteer work parties, and individual projects. Each intern will have a different focus to help tackle the many and diverse needs of a native...

Students who are in the UW Greek system and have an interest in Environmental Leadership or Sustainability Consulting can earn course credit through the Green Greeks Representative program and Environmental Studies this fall.

For the first time, this year Green Greek Representative program is an accredited 1-2 credit course. Students will represent their chapter and work on environmental projects while gaining leadership experience and learning about sustainability solutions.

Classes - featuring speakers, skills...

Shelby Cramer's path to the Husky Green Award started with a simple question.

"I was walking with my little sister, and she randomly asked me what this tree was, this tree that was outside our house for years and year and years," Shelby said. "I didn't know what to tell her because I didn't know what that tree was, and that was kind of a light bulb moment. I felt a weird sense of shame in not knowing my own place."

That question led Shelby to the Environmental Studies program at the UW. As a senior this past year, she was a leader in the...