Toren's Tidbits

Have you seen Zipcars around campus? Zipcar and other car-sharing services are a good complement to your U-PASS membership, providing access to vehicles when they are needed without requiring you to own (and park) a car.

You may have met a Malamute at one of our events. These dogs have their own sustainability story - they're from the Washington Alaskan Malamute Adoption League (WAMAL).

WAMAL’s main objective is to rehabilitate and re-home rescued Alaskan Malamutes, help Malamute owners and educate the public about these amazing animals. Their goal is to ensure that every malamute can live the life that they deserve.

It's Earth Week!

Earth Day is this Friday, April 22, but our planet deserves more than just a day. There are events happening throughout this week across campus, all gearing up to our Earth day celebration in Red Square on Friday. I've detailed the events hosted by UW Earth Club and UW Sustainability - check out our Earth Day events page for the full list of campus events.

Have you been to the Quad to see the beautiful cherry trees? If not, now is the time to go because the blossoms are in full bloom and are incredibly beautiful right now - but they won't be around long in their colorful glory.

The iconic trees on the Quad are the Yoshino variety native to Japan. The trees debuted at UW in 1939, though they were initially planted in the arboretum, not on the Quad. The trees were relocated to the quad when construction began on highway 520. Good news, every single tree that was relocated survived!

On Wednesday I had the pleasure of attending a lecture as part of the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series from the College of Built Environments. The speaker was world renowned architect James Cheng, who has helped to shape the skyline of Vancouver, B.C., and the outlying areas. Cheng takes a humanized approach to architecture, often asking how people will interact in spaces, which in my opinion is part of what makes him such an incredible and influential designer and has enabled him to impact cities in huge ways.

UW Sustainability supports sustainable initiatives happening all over. The UW Tacoma campus has outstanding sustainability efforts, and the surrounding City of Tacoma is also working to address environmental challenges.

Suzanne Zitzer is committed to sustainability! She was one of the driving forces (along with a former colleague) behind getting the College of the Environment Dean's Office certified as a Green Office back in 2013 and has been focusing on green office practices ever since.

Does this picture stress you out? It stresses me out - having stacks of paper everywhere feels unorganized, cluttered and chaotic. But there's a solution! Follow these simple tips for reducing paper in your office or home:

Did you know that there are nearly 500 dairy farms in Washington state?  According to the Department of Agriculture, milk is the No. 2 agricultural commodity in Washington, produced by both small and large scale farming operations. One UW student is working to learn how to make dairy production sustainable across the state.

The UW Green Laboratory Certification program recognizes labs that maintain their commitment to Sustainability. We’re happy to highlight the Electron Microprobe Lab at the University of Washington, which has been certified Gold two years running!