In Our Nature

Are you passionate about sustainability and the environment? The UW sustainability office is looking for a new Green Certifications student intern.

The position will work with our Green Certifications specialist to help expand the reach of Green Certifications at UW, including the Green Laboratory and Green Office certifications. The UW Green Certification program recognizes offices and labs that help decrease UW's environmental impact, and provides resources to offices and labs offices on campus to help them move towards...

On January 24th the Sustainability in the Arts initiative officially kicked off - thank you to the engaged students and faculty who showed up!

We brainstormed different aspects of sustainability both in behind the scenes operations and in creative content, as well as some of the challenges that artists face when trying to make environmental art. 

The group find that there were many opportunities to address sustainability behind the scenes, such as: mailing, energy use at venues, local food, waste, programs, parking/transportation, sustainability funds, lighting, compostable...

The Washington State Recycling Association has student scholarships to their annual conference available to undergraduate and graduate students in Washington. This is an opportunity for students to network with leading industry professionals, expand their knowledge of recycling and waste reduction, and prepare themselves for a career in a rewarding and innovative field.  

This year's WSRA conference will be held May 7-10, 2017 in Pasco, Wash. To apply, go to the...

This summer, UW Study Abroad and the College of Engineering are offering a study abroad program that stays close to home.

"Sustainable Water in a Wet Region" is a field study course that looks at many aspects of water - water resource, drinking water, and wastewater - and takes students to locations on the Olympic Peninsula. The course focuses on environmental implications of climate change predictions for temperate rain forest and wet forest regions, using the Pacific...

Have you seen Zipcars around campus? Zipcar and other car-sharing services are a good complement to your U-PASS membership, providing access to vehicles when they are needed without requiring you to own (and park) a car.

There are several Zipcars available on campus, and UW students can join at reduced rates. Car sharing reduces demand for on-campus parking and can alleviate congestion on the roads. The program also includes everything you need to get around campus like gas and insurance, they also offer...

One aspect of the UW Sustainability in the Arts (SITA) initiative involves looking at art as a way to communicate about sustainability. Art can play a huge role in sustainability through embodying environmental themes and supporting activism as well as bringing people together on these issues. One event I was particularly interested in that effectively brought together art and activism was the recent DeFund from DAPL mass action.

UW Sustainablity is proud to be a partner in the new UW Livable City Year program, which connects UW students and faculty with local communities to work on real-world challenges around livability and sustainablity for a full academic year. UWTV profiled some of the students working on LCY projects this fall in this video:

Image credit: Jennifer Watts. Original photo by Steve Korn, UW Dance. Image texture from One Frozen Moment.

With the start of winter quarter comes the beginning of a new way to integrate sustainability through the Sustainability in the Arts initiative! This UW initiative aims to bring together students, faculty, staff, and other community members in an effort to explore sustainability at an operational level in different arts departments and venues as...

This fall, Jacqueline Patterson, the director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program, came to UW to talk about the intersection of climate science and social justice, and how to work to advance equitable preservation of our environment. Kane Hall was at capacity for the event, but you can watch the entire talk below thanks to the Seattle Channel.

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