the UW Sustainability blog
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.
The UW Botanic Gardens and the Student Conservation Association have teamed up to host a work party at the Washington Park Arboretum on Saturday, April 23.
Individuals and groups from UW are invited to join us for this opportunity to dig in and help support the health of our planet. Come get your hands dirty and celebrate Earth Day with us - the first 400 volunteers to register will also receive free lunch and t-shirts!
The UW's ENVIR 480: Sustainability Studio class in the Program on the Environment presents students with a sustainability topic which they engage in as part of an experiential learning course. The topics change each quarter - this spring, the students researched the UW's environmental history. This is part of a series of posts by the students on some of the information they uncovered.
Photos courtesy of UW Botanic Gardens and Larry Howard
The UW Botanic Gardens was recently voted as one of the best university gardens in the nation. With more than 20,000 plants from around the world, it has become an international hub for plant science and ecosystem research, teaching and stewardship.
The Washington Park Arboretum staff uses utility vehicles to maintain the park grounds, but current diesel vehicles are a source of pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions (as well as being loud).
A team of researchers used a Green Seed Fund grant to discover whether biodiesel or electric vehicles would be the better option to replace the current fleet when looking at carbon footprint, performance, cost and user satisfaction.