In Our Nature

At 15 feet tall, the new hoop house for the Society for Ecological Restoration's UW Chapter (SER-UW) serves as a reminder of all the hard work 50 student volunteers put in over the course of six days.

Working eight to ten hour shifts, students from UW’s Construction Management department, Sigma Lambda Chi and volunteers from SER-UW set out to construct a 30 foot by 48 foot hoop house at the Center for Urban Horticulture. Now, the student run native plant nursery has room for about 5,000 plants in the hoop house.

The newly constructed hoop house was one of many goals the...

Over six million gallons of water is used to sustain the assortment of trees and flowers in the Washington Park Arboretum, much of it along Azalea Way, the main pathway through the Arboretum. But a group of UW students, staff and faculty are hoping to significantly reduce the amount of water used.   

In an effort to reduce water, Arboretum gardener Kathleen DeMaria and her team are working to replace the existing irrigation system. To kick-start the project, the Green Seed Fund awarded the team $52,323 for a research project which will give the team information on how to optimize...

There's a whole new lineup of sustainability events this week, ranging from environmental studies students presenting their green projects to marine conservation. Some of the week's highlights are listed below, and you can find out even more items happening on campus with our full Sustainability events calendar, which is the best place to find the most up-to-date listings and details on all events. If you know of any events that should be added to the calendar, please let us know. And if you'd like to get a weekly email of all the upcoming...

The Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship is again offering two practicum courses this fall focusing on innovation - the Environmental Innovation Challenge and the Health Innovation Challenge practicums.

In both courses, students hear fantastic leading-edge speakers, work on idea generation for changes that will make a difference in the...

The UW Law, Societies, and Justice (LSJ) program held a panel last week to encourage students to think about ways of alleviating our collective carbon footprint. More than a dozen students gathered in Smith Hall to dive deep into the widely debated topic of climate change.

“Climate change is a reality,” said Trace Chaplin, a doctoral student in the Jackson School of International Studies and one of the panel facilitators. “Not only is it here, it’s going to continue.”

Consumerism is a...

The University of Illinois at Chicago is accepting applications through July 1 for the 6th Annual Summer Institute on Sustainability and Energy (SISE), a two-week intensive workshop and lecture series for students and professionals. Admission into the program is highly competitive, drawing from a national pool of applicants. All participants attend free of charge, and will receive lodging for the duration of the two-week program. Many attendees will also receive partial support for travel costs.

Senior-level undergraduates (as of the fall of 2016),...

The student group UW EcoReps works with the Greek community at UW to promote sustainability. EcoReps has created a Green Greek representative program to bring students from houses across the Greek community together to find opportunities in houses, on campus and beyond. Check out this video for more information on UW's Green Greek representatives:

Get ready for the 4th annual "The Living Breath of wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ: Indigenous Foods and Ecological Knowledge Symposium" this Friday and Saturday. The event starts at 9 a.m. each day in the Intellectual House.

Enjoy two full days of breakout discussions on tribal food sovereignty initiatives, food justice and security, traditional foods and health, indigenous foods systems and global climate change. Plus, traditional food meals will be provided...

For some UW students and even faculty choosing between eating a sufficient meal or paying for rent, books, or tuition is a daily struggle. In an effort to eliminate that choice altogether, the UW now offers an on-campus food pantry.  

During its grand opening last Monday the pantry was stocked with 954 food items, including 106 cans of fish, 80 cans of beans, and 276 cans of soups and stews. The pantry served about 10 to 15 people while it was open.

"Although it was small, Monday was a big success,” said...

By Mishu Pham-Whipple

Electronic waste, or e-waste, is yet another new problem inhabitants of the 21st century must face. There are ways to recycle this waste but the recycling of this e-waste often looks much different from what we imagine recycling to look like. The waste is often shipped to developing countries through loopholes in international convention where toxic components are handled by workers who do not have proper training or safety practices. Only a portion of the materials are actually recycled and the rest is either discarded or burned. With solutions to...