Harborview Medical Center and University of Washington Medical Center have received 2015 Top 25 Environmental Excellence Awards 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 ninth consecutive year for UW Medical Center to receive the top award and the fourth consecutive year for Harborview.

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The quarter might be almost over, but you can still find plenty of sustainability events happening around campus. Some of the week's highlights are listed below, and you can find out even more items happening on campus this week with our full calendar (we're always adding events as we learn about them, so the full Sustainability Events calendar is also the best place to find the most up-to-date listings and details on all events). If you know of any events which should be added, let us know, and if you'd like to get a...

UW Associate Vice President Ruth Johnston traveled to Stanford University this spring to discuss strategic priorities and partnerships with fellow higher education sustainability leaders.

Johnston serves on the board of the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), which for the past 10 years has been strengthening campus sustainability efforts and making sustainable practices the norm within higher education.

During the day and a half retreat at Stanford, Johnston and several other AASHE board members discussed ways of improving local,...

On May 19-21 EcoReps hosted the annual Green Greek Competition, a contest aimed at educating the Greek Community about sustainability and helping chapters go green. The EcoReps group set up tables on the median of 17th Avenue with activities designed to promote sustainable behaviors within the community. During the three days Greek members could participate in games such as a minute-to-win-it waste sorting challenge, trivia, and recycling basketball. Participation earned chapters and individuals points during the three-day competition, while the games also tested the community on their...

A refined Chevy Malibu sits in the far corner of the UW EcoCAR lab as a reminder of UW’s second place finish last year in the three-year automotive engineering EcoCAR2 competition sponsored by General Motors.

The EcoCAR group is hoping to match that success in the current EcoCAR3 competition, a four-year process to redesign a Chevrolet Camaro to be as energy efficient as possible while keeping its performance.

Teams participate in yearly competitions to show of their designs and test their cars. This year...

Washington State is filled with a rich Native American history and the Department of American Indian Studies (AIS) at the University of Washington is a place that fully recognizes the innumerable resources that this area provides. This department is the heart of American Indian and Indigenous knowledge at UW. Their goal is to nurture Indigenous wellness, political sovereignty, cultural revitalization, and cross-cultural understanding. Yet, even though Native American resources have always been abundant around UW, it took decades of work to...

By Tiffany Loh

This post was originally published on the Campus Sustainability Fund site.

Earlier this year, the CSF awarded a grand total of $105,367 to 6 projects in the first round of funding for 2015. One of the projects proposed innovative adjustments that would optimize the use of a gift Mother Nature likes to shower upon Seattle: rainwater. 

CSF spoke to Amy Kim, Assistant Professor in Civil & Environmental Engineering and Heta Kosonen...

Meetings are a way of life at the University of Washington. Informational meetings, brainstorming sessions, presentations, planning meetings, staff huddles… the list goes on.

Meeting etiquette can be strongly ingrained into your office culture, but some UW offices are transforming the way meetings are conducted – whether it’s reducing paper use or introducing a new video conferencing system to eliminate unnecessary office trips.

The UW Green Office Certification Program sets sustainability standards for UW workplaces, encouraging staff members to practice energy and paper...

Welcome to Spring Quarter Week Nine!

Many of the week's highlights in sustainability events are below, and you can find out even more things happening on campus this week on our full calendar. If you know of any events which should be added, let us know. If you'd like to get a weekly email of all the upcoming sustainability events, subscribe to our newsletter. And we are always adding new events as we learn about them, so see all the details and any last-minute additions...

Don’t know what to do with your old or damaged clothes? Don't throw them away - many thrift stores, dropboxes and other locations in the area will take them and reuse or recycle them, reducing waste in the landfill.

It doesn't matter if the clothes are ripped, stained, or otherwise damaged - find the nearest donation location instead of putting them in the trash.

The average person throws away 70 pounds of clothing per year, according to the EPA. With...