In Our Nature

Carolyn Hartman has worked diligently to promote environmental education and campus sustainability in numerous leadership capacities throughout her time at UW.

For the past three years, she has represented environmental student groups as an ASUW student senator. Last school year, she impressively leveraged her involvement with both the ASUW Senate and SEED, the HFS-affiliated environmental student group, to pass a resolution in support of increasing composting programs in the residence...

The UW International Forestry Students' Association (IFSA) was created just a year ago, but it's already grown into a robust community of environmental sustainability leaders, with more than 10 officers and 43 active members.

The UW arm of IFSA came into being when a group of students wanted to create a connection between UW students and the international environmental community. Since then, the student organization has traveled to the International Forestry Students' Symposium in the Philippines and the Global Landscapes Forum in...

Kathryn Jansen is the UW Department of Surgery's medical student program operations specialist. After noticing that the department didn't have compost and recycling bins readily available, Jansen made it a priority to add several to the department's break and conference rooms.

"We produce a ton of coffee grounds and filters, along with other food waste, while trying to keep our staff and residents caffeinated all day and night," said Jansen. "I would see the garbage bin overflowing with items that could be composted."

The Department of Surgery is the second largest department...

The UW Office of Admissions recently started a transition from paper-based applications to a digital process. On April 14, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions David Sundine joined us for a Green Bag talk on the process and the benefits of the new system.

It was a fabulous talk that attracted a broad audience including folks from UW-IT, UW Sustainability, the School of Public Policy and Governance, Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship and even UW Bothell. Sundine talked about how the new system makes the undergraduate admissions process much timelier and efficient while - as...

By Mishu Pham-Whipple

What do wheelchairs and sustainability have in common?

With money awarded by the Green Seed Fund, a team – comprised of Jennifer Pitonyak, Alan Knue, Anne Ordway, Jennifer Zumsteg and Tracy Mroz - at UW conducted a research project to investigate durable medical equipment reuse and recycling processes and practices within UW Medicine as a first step in developing local solutions for reducing the amount of non-recoverable waste that goes into landfills. Durable medical equipment, or DME, is medical equipment that supports and enables a person to...

The UW Farm's 2015 annual report is out - learn what the Farm accomplished over the past year, including raising over $10,000 to build a shelter and two earthen ovens at the Center for Urban Horticulture—a space that will serve as a wash-pack station and community gathering venue for years to come.

Read the full report here.

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By Mishu Pham-Whipple

Investing in buildings to save energy and money has become the norm across institutional and residential domains. As part of an energy conservation effort, the University of Washington has retrofitted light fixtures across campus and measured significant energy and cost savings. What has yet to be measured, however, is how lighting retrofits improve occupant satisfaction and productivity.

Funded by the Green Seed Fund, a research team at UW - consisting of Amy Kim, Scott Bybee, and James Lew, along with support and permission from Facilities...

Update 4/18: The Native Plant Nursery was named one of the seven 2016 Husky Green Award winners.

The Society for Ecological Restoration's UW Chapter has been working to restore native plants to areas around campus, with the help of their native plant nursery. 

The nursery allows SER-UW to restore areas on campus by increasing native species biodiversity and creating open spaces for students to engage with the natural world just steps from their residence halls. The plant nursery is on the grounds of the ...

Green Husky Award nominee Katie Corp is working to make clean energy accessible.

As a graduate student, Corp is researching new materials to use solar energy in splitting water. As a Clean Energy Ambassador with UW's Clean Energy Institute, she connects with high school and middle school students to share her passion for science and clean energy. Her leadership in the program led to her being nominated for a Husky Green Award.

The Clean Energy Institute has a story on their website detailing Corp's work as a Clean Energy...

Today (Friday, April 8) the student group EcoReps wants to help you freshen up your wardrobe while getting rid of your unwanted clothes without tossing them in the trash.

The EcoReps are hosting a clothing swap on Red Square today from 2-5 p.m. Bring your gently-used clothes and swap them for new-to-you items - help reduce waste while revamping your wardrobe. Just look for the EcoReps tables on Red Square to start swapping clothes.

And remember, if you can't make it to the clothing swap there's still no need to throw away those old clothes, even ones that are torn or stained...