By Karina Mazhukhina | Apr 15, 2016
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UW Bothell graduate student Alison Schmidt has volunteered all over Seattle. Most of her volunteer experiences have been with Seattle Tilth, where she focused on community engagement and education on recycling and composting and local farming and student learning gardens. She has also done ecological restoration with community partners like Mountain to Sound Greenway and Friends of North Creek Forest. Recently, she began participating in the kayak cleanups with Puget Sound Keepers on Lake Union.

Before pursuing her degree in environmental studies, Jansen spent 14 years working for Starbucks. Her duties included promoting recycling and composting in Starbucks stores. She was also their certified Coffee Master, which meant training others about sustainable coffee growing practices and fair trade purchasing.

During her time at Starbucks, she was able to travel to New Orleans for a Starbucks leadership conference in 2008. There she worked with organizations like Americorp to help with clean up and restoration efforts in neighborhoods still feeling the impact from Hurricane Katrina.

There was one moment in particular that stood out to Schmidt.

"Miss Maggie, who, three years after Katrina, was able to move back into her home," said Schmidt. "She cried and hugged us when we finished building her fence and painting her home."

Just like her time in New Orleans, Schmidt hopes to continue her passion for restoration and promoting sustainability.

She added, "I hope to spread the message that the choices we make must reflect our values. And not just big decisions, but the small everyday choices we make, like whether or not to purchase something based on its environmental footprint."

The Husky Green Awards recognize the top environmental leaders at the University of Washington. Individuals or groups from all UW campuses are nominated by faculty, staff and students. We'll be featuring many of the 2016 nominees on the blog this month. The winners will be announced on April 18, with an award ceremony during the April 22 Earth Day celebrations on Red Square.