How UW Recycling got its start

UW Recycling logo

Guest submission by Adam Fehn, UW Recycling Program Coordinator

Once you become familiar with being part of a campus community that's renowned for its sustainability practices, it can be hard to believe that a formal recycling program at University of Washington was established only 26 years ago. Thanks to several key student-lead initiatives, UW Recycling eventually grew to become a team of 14 administrative and operations members that support the entire campus every day.

Join the UW football gameday sustainability team

The UW Athletics green team needs volunteers to be a part of the football game day sustainability team. Volunteers will play a major role in helping us reach our waste diversion goal of 80% this season. As a volunteer, you will engage with fans to encourage sustainable practices in the stadium and in the tailgate areas. After halftime, you are welcome to stay and watch the remainder of the game.

UW Seattle takes Pac-12 honors in RecycleMania tournament

The University of Washington’s Seattle campus won the 2017 PAC-12 Grand Champion award during RecycleMania, a national collegiate waste diversion tournament. The 786 metric tons of CO2 that UW kept out of the landfill is equivalent to the total amount of energy consumption of 68 households, or removing 154 cars off the road.

The student organization EcoReps supported UW Recycling’s efforts in generating event awareness on campus this year. 

RecycleMania week six: nearing the end

The two-month RecycleMania competition finished with the end of March, but the numbers are still being tallied. So far, the results are in through the first six weeks of the competition, and the University of Washington is holding a big lead among all Pac-12 schools. The Seattle campus is pacing the conference, but UW Bothell has been doing even better in terms of overall recycling rate. 

RecycleMania week five: keeping the lead

At the five-week mark of RecycleMania, the University of Washington continues to lead the Pac-12 in the recycling competition.

The UW's Seattle campus is well ahead of the other Pac-12 schools and is in 31st place out of the 178 schools competing. UW Bothell is doing even better, in 26th place. According to RecycleMania, UW Seattle has recycled more than four pounds of material for every person on campus - a total of nearly 500,000 pounds recycled.