Annika Prom's blog

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."

Gabrielle Coeuille and Pooja Kumar are bringing a new perspective to sustainability with their presentation as part of the Washington Higher Education Sustainability Coalition (WAHESC) Digital Earth Day Seminars. Both are currently interning with UW Recycling: Gabi is the Waste Diversion & Reduction Intern and Pooja is the Waste Diversion Assistant.

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.

As we head into the final weeks of the quarter, consider taking a break from the books by checking out events happening all across campus. This week’s events mainly cover getting out the message about your research findings, and informing policy practice.

Find some sunshine in the midst of midterm season and this nonstop rain by seeing how community members incorporate sustainability into their work. These groups and individuals keep the Earth in mind when making their way to work, gearing up the sports teams, or telling stories about the environment.

Communities both local and worldwide are taking various approaches to practicing sustainability. This week, there are opportunities to learn about how the environment and climate change impact different groups. Sit in on an event about children's health, New York's role in maintaining green cities, or the significance of the local kokanee salmon.

What do you think of when you hear the word soil? When assistant professor Brittany Johnson asks students this question at the start of her Introductory Soils course, words like "dirty," "life," "brown," and "nutrients" come to mind. But soil is much more complex than that, Johnson says.

Every one of us interacts with food on a daily basis in some way. This week, the UW Farm, Campus Food Pantry and ASUW Student Food Cooperative will be discussing various aspects of our food systems as part of the Sustainability Stories seminar series. Also happening this week is a Student Sustainability Forum, movie screening, discussion on diversity and much more.

This week, get your hands dirty at a pair of volunteer events with the Society for Ecological Restoration - UW Chapter, learn how climate change is also changing our soil and what that might mean for future food production, or get a selfie with Dubs while checking out great deals at UW Surplus!

There are tons of events happening around the University of Washington. Each week, we'll highlight the top sustainability-related events across UW so you can quickly find the ones you're interested in. We also always have a full, comprehensive list of all campus sustainability events on our calendar. You can even subscribe to get weekly emails to keep up to date on all the sustainability events happening around UW.

This week's events include: