the UW Sustainability blog
The University of Washington has a goal of reducing paper usage university-wide, in line with a Washington state law directing state agencies to reduce paper consumption by at least 30% from 2008-2009 levels and use 100% recycled copy paper.
UW is still working toward those goals, and you can see the progress on our Sustainability Dashboard's paper page. Below, you can that the amount of paper per employee across all UW campuses has steadily dropped since the law was passed.
Interested in learning more about sustainability courses offered on campus? We have a solution for you.
UW's student Earth Club is starting to plan this year's Earth Day festivities, and they're looking for any interested students to join the planning committee.
Students should email Lauren Rowe at laur.rowe@gmail.com if they are interested. The planning committee will determine the programming for the Earth Day campus celebrations on April 22.
UW Transportation Services' Commute Concierge is hiring! We’re looking for students who are interested in helping UW commuters find sustainable, affordable, enjoyable ways of getting to, from, and around campus. Students who are interested in sustainable transportation, behavior change, problem solving, transportation demand management, and helping people are encouraged to apply.
Really fascinating Faculty Friday post today by Quinn Russel Brown on a class being tought by Anu Taranath, a senior lecturer in Compartive History of Ideas and English about how to talk about power and privilege on campuses. Getting comfortable about talking about uncomfortable things is a key element of the course and Taranath has multiple ways in which she facilitates the conversation.
There’s a whole new lineup of sustainability events this week, ranging from discussions on global warming and Seattle’s environmental history to a natural resources career fair. Some of the week's highlights are listed below, and you can find out even more items happening on campus with our full calendar. The full Sustainability Events calendar is the best place to find the most up-to-date listings and details on all events. Also, if you know of any events, please let us know. We’d love to add them to our calendar!
Wednesday we're hosting a paper reduction Green Bag talk in Gerberding Hall, starting at 11:30 a.m. in room 26! We are joined by Tim Stetter, Director of the UW in the High School program who will talk about their paper reduction efforts in the last year.
The Green Office Certification Program encourages everyone at the University of Washington to help make their workplace sustainable. One of the areas of emphasis in the certification form is energy conservation, and it's also an area where many offices have room for improvement.
Below are a few tips on how your office can take easy steps to reduce energy use. For more ideas, see our Green Office Resources page or email us at sustainability@uw.edu.
UW Sustainability is excited to introduce paper reduction week! All week on the blog we'll be highlighting stories of people and groups on campus who have taken steps to reduce paper use, and providing tips and resources for you to do the same. This week is all about reducing the amount of paper we use, going digital and making small changes with big impacts. Reducing paper can save money and time as well as significantly reducing our environmental impact.