UW Recycling

UW Recycling is excited to host another Trash Art Contest for 2023!

Categories include literature, 2D and 3D art. Participants must create an art piece from items normally thought of as trash or a literary piece about waste. Art pieces should express feelings or ideas about waste, or a sustainability topic that relates to waste. This contest is open to all UW students, faculty and staff.

Submissions are due March 22, 2023 at 4 p.m. PST. Winners for each category will receive $100 or $50 gift cards to a low waste store.

If you are moving out of an HFS residence hall or apartment, you can donate certain items through the UW’s SCRAM (Student Cleanup, Recycle and Moveout) event. The event runs from June 9 – 14, 2025 and is only open for HFS residents to donate. 

SCRAM donation sites are in the below locations. If there isn’t a donation station in your residence hall, bring your items to a nearby location.

SCRAM donation sites

Sites are drop-off only. Please do not touch or move other donations.

The 2022 Trash Art Contest, organized by UW Recycling, gave UW artists a space to make statements around waste and sustainability while using materials usually thought of as trash.

Five winners transformed trash into stunning art pieces in the third annual UW Trash Art Contest.

The contest, organized by UW Recycling, received more than 20 submissions from students, faculty and staff in the categories of literature, 2D art and 3D art. The artwork needed to be created from items normally thought of as trash. Artists were asked to express feelings or ideas about waste, or a sustainability topic that relates to waste.

This year's winners were:

UW Recycling is excited to host another Trash Art Contest for 2022!  

The categories this year include literature, 2D and 3D art. Participants must create an art piece from items normally thought of as trash or a literary piece about waste. Art pieces should express feelings or ideas about waste, or a sustainability topic that relates to waste. This contest is open to all UW students, faculty and staff.

The UW is recognized as a national leader for its deep commitment to sustainability on our campuses and in the community.

Looking forward to living on campus? Follow these tips to make move-in easier and reduce waste.

1. Bring only what you need

Don’t let those MUST HAVE shopping lists distract you - only get the basics that you’ll need. Before you start shopping, take note of all the things you use in your everyday life and will continue to use.

Julie Ira is a junior in the Program on the Environment, studying Environmental Studies. She recently received a group Husky Green Award for her work on the leadership team for the Green Greek Representative Program. She wrote about her experience as an intern with UW Recycling for the UW Facilities' blog.

With summer around the corner, many of us are excited to spend more time outside getting our hands dirty in the garden. To celebrate International Compost Awareness Week, the UW Recycling team has unearthed a list of movies and books to provide some inspiration. Each resource was hand-picked to teach the importance of soil health and giving back to the earth. 

Winners of the 2021 Trash Art Contest express impacts on the environment through written and sculpted art pieces.

Enter the 2022 Trash Art Contest

2022 Trash Art Contest

Garbage may not be the most ideal art material, but it combines conservation and art creation to achieve profound results.

UW Recycling is excited to host another Trash Art Contest for 2021! The contest is part of this year's Campus Race to Zero Waste (previously RecycleMania).