the UW Sustainability blog
At the recent UW Decarbonization Town Hall, one of the major questions posed from the audience was, "How can I get involved and help decarbonize our campuses?"
There are many different ways students, staff and faculty can get involved at the UW. We've put together just a few here. You can also email sustainability@uw.edu with questions or for information on other options.
Global Renewables Infrastructure Development (GRID) is a registered student organization that works on designing, optimizing, installing, financing and assessing the societal impacts of renewable energy systems, with a specific focus on projects that advance equitable access to electricity. GRID has an interdisciplinary mix of graduate and undergraduate students with backgrounds in engineering, natural sciences, social sciences and more.
Global Renewables Infrastructure Development (GRID) is an RSO that works on designing, optimizing, installing, monitoring and assessing the societal impacts of solar energy systems, with a specific focus on projects that advance equitable access to electricity. The group has an interdisciplinary mix of graduate and undergraduate students with backgrounds in engineering, natural sciences, social sciences and more.
ReThink, a Foster School of Business student organization which is dedicated to exploring the intersection of business and sustainability, is working to create a centralized, web-based platform to identify and promote small, sustainable businesses. This "Sustainability Upheld in Business" project is hoping to provide consumers, students, and environmentally-conscious individuals with the knowledge and means to discover, investigate, and promote sustainable business practices.
For Emma Wilson and Anya Gavrylko, sustainability is about more than just the environment.
As the co-leaders of the Sustainability Curriculum Coalition (SCC) student group, the duo shares a passion to advance and redefine sustainability at the UW.
"There is the three pillars approach that is environment, social, economic, which is sort of like level one sustainability," Anya said. "It's understanding how one action impacts everything throughout those other actions and having everyone understand that they have a role to play."
For almost a decade, UW Solar has made impacts by generating power and energy all across campus. Since getting solar panels installed on the roof of Mercer Court in 2014, the group has grown and worked with campus partners to add solar to several West Campus residence halls and the new Life Sciences Building.
With no signs of slowing down, UW Solar is looking to carry out two major projects this year that will encourage the use of alternative energy at the university.
Fall quarter is nearly here, and it's Dawg Daze time! Whether you're a new student on campus or returning for another year, these Dawg Daze events will give you a good introduction to sustainability efforts on campus, and some ideas on how you can get involved.
Friday, September 20
meet in front of the HUB, 1 p.m.
Civil & Environmental Engineering senior Alex Ratcliff has worked to increase solar power capacity at the University of Washington throughout his time as a student. Since joining the UW Solar student group as a freshman, Ratcliff has helped oversee new solar installations on the residence halls Maple, Alder and Elm, as well as working on solar installations for the new Life Sciences building.
Fall quarter is nearly here, and it's Dawg Daze time! Whether you're a new student on campus or returning for another year, these Dawg Daze events will give you a good introduction to sustainabiltiy efforts on campus, and some ideas on how you can get involved.
Friday, September 21
meet at Drumheller Fountain, 1 p.m.
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.