In Our Nature

Update: UW Recycling and UW Sustainability have decided not to continue a pilot program to recycle nitrile lab gloves. The pilot program, which took place over the course of spring quarter of 2016 in nine labs in the Molecular Engineering and Sciences (MolES) department and Materials Science and Engineering department, reduced the proportion of lab waste that gloves made up from an average of 23% to 7%. However, while the pilot program diverted a significant amount of lab waste from the landfill, the program could not confirm that the overall carbon footprint of recycling the gloves...

Join UW Sustainability for a Green Bag lunch talk on paper reduction and Green Offices with Lily Gebrenegus, UW Grant and Contract Accounting associate director, and Chris Toman, UW Sustainability Program Specialist, on June 30 from noon to 1 p.m. in HUB 337.

Lily will be speaking about the GCA offices' new system for processing JV request forms digitally, saving over 1,500 sheets of paper per year. Chris will provide a workshop on the UW Green Office...

Recent UW graduate Jesus Martinez-Gomez never imagined moving from a small farming community in Ferndale to cultivating his passion for science at the University of Washington.

Over the last four years, undergraduate researcher Martinez-Gomez studied the mutation of genes in flowers. He has received five scholarships, ranging from UW McNair to Excellence in Biology. He has also been a part of seven programs, ranging from UW Undergraduate Academic...

Harborview Medical Center and University of Washington Medical Center have each received the 2016 Top 25 Environmental Excellence Award from Practice Greenhealth. The Top 25 Award recognizes healthcare facilities across the country that exemplify environmental excellence and are setting the highest standards for environmental practices in healthcare. This is the tenth consecutive year for UW Medical Center to receive the top award and the...

There are many Green Laboratories at the University of Washington who practice sustainability every day. The Green Lab Certification program was created to recognize these labs, while providing resources for labs who want to improve their practices. This spring, the Green Lab program gave awards to those certified labs which showed outstanding performance even among the select group of certified Green Labs.

The Greenest Lab award for 2015-2016 went to the ZaP Flow Z-Pinch Lab from the...

HP’s printers, ink cartridges, and desktops can be found in administrative offices and computer labs throughout campus. HP is one of the UW’s main technology suppliers, and the company has many sustainability initiatives. Sustainability is firmly integrated into the company’s product design process, which aims to decrease the environmental impact of products across their life cycles. Due to its industry leadership in sustainability, HP has received much external recognition in recent years. Last fall, HP...

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.

"It’s a great program," said David Speed, UW...

Sound Salmon Solutions is seeking two to three long-term Community Stewardship Partners to help with salmon habitat restoration work. Volunteers will help raise public awareness on the decline of salmon populations, water quality problems and solutions.

The Chinook Salmon and Steelhead populations are currently at less than 5 percent of their historic levels in Puget Sound. Without proper habitat restoration and community awareness, these fish populations are at risk of...

UW Environmental Studies majors gathered in Alder Hall last week to present their capstone projects, which ranged from in-depth looks at millennials’ involvement in environmental advocacy to research on improving our connectedness with nature.

“I’m always impressed by students,” said capstone instructor Sean McDonald. “They apply their environmental degree to the professional world.”

As part of the environmental studies major, students can participate in a three-quarter...

CSR Thursdays is a student-authored blog post series in which we share information about the corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts underway by the many and diverse suppliers and vendors of the UW. Look no further to start gaining an understanding on what businesses that provide products often purchased by students, faculty, and staff are doing to promote environmental sustainability! 

This week’s company: Tiffany & Co.

With graduation approaching, some students might find themselves in possession of an iconic light blue bag, and inside, a...