the UW Sustainability blog
Everyone is invited to join in a pair of upcoming work parties to restore Yesler Swamp, one of the few remaining swamps along Lake Washington. A group of UW Environmental Science students are organizing the volunteer opportunities on February 25 and March 3 from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. as part of a capstone project. You can sign up here to be a volunteer.
As we all fall into our usual routines for Winter quarter, jazz up your schedule and check out the sustainability events calendar! We've listed a few of the top options for this week below, and you can always 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!
Some highlights coming up this week:
When you think of ‘sustainable fashion’, does your mind evoke images of dated hippie clothes, or maybe bizarre runway fashion? While not entirely wrong, this popular perception is greatly flawed. To dispel this misbelief, the student group Net Impact recently hosted a Sustainable Fashion Panel with speakers Sean Schmidt from UW Sustainability and Richelle Bush from Buffalo Exchange.
Guest post by Cailin Winston
Imagine living in a village where computer monitors and circuit boards line the streets, where the air creates a stinging sensation in your eyes and nose, where you dare not eat the rice that you grow because it is likely to be contaminated with heavy metals and toxins. This is Guiyu, China, one of the largest informal recycling operations for electronic waste in the world.
For the past three years, one of my New Year's resolutions has included keeping up with the news. And like most new year’s resolutions, I’ve never truly fulfilled this promise. While I can easily say that I’m a more engaged citizen now than I was when I entered college, I still feel there’s more I can do to actively stay in the loop on current events. Thus, in order to prove myself wrong this year, I’ve compiled a list of news outlets of which I’m going to keep tabs on for the next year. I’ve chosen to go with Grist, the Seattle Times, and the New York Times.
In the dead heat of summer, Natalie Pearlman, a UW senior studying molecular biology, found herself standing along the Missouri River surrounded by buffalo and fireflies. She watched as the sun slowly dipped below the wildflowers and distant rolling hills, the deep pink sunburn and itchy bug bites that covered her body quickly fading from her mind. Sitting beside her were five other college students and two professors who were all from various universities across the U.S.
Guest post by Sustainability Game Jam organizer Lauren Kuehne.
Three math professors who always wanted to try building a game but never had the time. A graphic designer thinking about taking a digital game design program next year. A graduate student in statistics who is passionate about sustainable river management. These are just a few of the stories of the people who participated in the UW Sustainability Game Jam on Nov. 11-12. Their mission: to design a game that engaged a wider community on a topic or concept related to sustainability – all in one weekend.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, a sudden chill in the air, and what I assume to be new Christmas bells decked on top of Kane, the holiday season is officially in full swing! For many, this is the time of the year to take advantage of Black Friday’s low prices and stock up on the household items, christmas gifts, and miscellaneous objects you never knew you needed (until now!) For others, 'tis the season to "opt-out".
Students planning to enter the Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challege can apply for funding to help create a prototype to help develop their idea. The funding can be used to purchase materials, rent equipment, or hire short-term workers with high level skills beyond the team’s capacity, in order to create a physical model, object or device.
The application deadline for the funds is Dec. 19, 2016 at 5 p.m. See the full details and apply here.
What does global warming sound like? UW atmospheric science graduate student Judy Twedt provides an answer in this video, which turns the measurements of atmospheric carbon dioxide over several decades into music. As the carbon dioxide levels rise, so does the pitch of the music. It can make for an unsettling listen: