Awards & Recognition

With over 80,000 students, faculty, and staff on campus, it's difficult to comprehend the sheer number of packages, textbooks, course packets and dorm mail UW Mailing Services delivers on a daily basis. Thankfully, those deliveries are now a lot more efficient and environmentally friendly.

This year UW Sustainability is celebrating 10 years of working to advance sustainability at the UW!

Our mission began in 2008 when we were formed as the Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability Office, a small team of two staff and two students under the leadership of then-Senior Vice President V'Ella Warren and then-Associate Vice President Ruth Johnston (who is now helping lead UW Bothell as the Vice Chancellor of Planning & Administration). Today, we;re known as UW Sustainability, and I have had the privilege of working with passionate staff and students

The University of Washington has received recognition as a national leader in sustainability by the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE). The UW is among the top universities and earned special recognition for its sustainability work in the transportation, food & dining, and wellbeing & work categories.

The University of Washington has earned a perfect score on the The Princeton Review’s Green Rating system for the eighth straight year.

The UW is one of 26 colleges and universities to be named to the Green Honor Roll with a perfect score in the 2019 rankings, out of 648 schools reviewed.

Harborview Medical Center and University of Washington Medical Center have received 2018 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.

As the student sustainability assistant, Alexa Russo became an integral part of UW Bothell's sustainability work. So integral, that after graduating she was asked to stay on as UW Bothell's interim sustainability coordinator.

Alexa was first introduced to Bothell’s Sustainability Office at a club fair on campus. What was a quick casual chat with the then-Sustainability Coordinator Cassie Lubenow sparked a relationship with the office that outlasted her student career.

Frieda Luoma-Cohan wasn’t content to confine her college experience to the classroom.

As an Environmental Studies student, she sought out opportunities to take her learning outside, whether it was on a class field trip, an outdoor excursion, or the opportunity to be the official steward of the new Sustainable Learning Space on south campus.

Sustainability in the arts, greening health sciences, and certifications for student groups. Selling succulents for sustainability, greening the Greek community, and leading local markets. The students of UW EcoReps work on sustainability initiatives that have an impact on many different aspects of the University of Washington.

Henry Milander has always held an interest in sustainability. He spends many Saturday mornings with hands in the dirt, removing invasive plant species and cleaning up local parks through UW Rotaract. Social issues are well on his radar, too; Henry often volunteers his time at organizations that train disadvantaged individuals in culinary arts, and others that alleviate food insecurity.

With Earth Day festivities behind us, we're back to our regular weekly sustainability event posts! The sustainability events calendar is always packed with new events, but below we've listed a few of the top options for this week. Also, check out our calendar for a comprehensive listing of events. You can even subscribe to get weekly emails to keep up to date on all the sustainability events happening around UW!