Water

Barbara Clabots of the Seattle Surfrider Foundation was the introductory presenter at the University of Washington's Earth Day celebration. Clabots is a social scientist focused on improving ocean conservation. Locally, she serves the community as Seattle Surfrider's Volunteer Coordinator to improve water quality in the Puget Sound, leading a program to eliminate cigarette litter.

Project Tap That is a student campaign to educate UW students about the harmful effects of plastic bottles and promote the use of reusable bottles with tap water.

They'll be kicking off their education and outreach campaign during the Earth Day celebrations on Red Square. Stop by the UW Earth Club or UW Sustainability tables to learn about the benefits of using a reusable water bottle instead of buying bottled water, and you might have a chance to pick up a Tap That reusable water bottle of your own!

Reducing water usage for a building the size of the UW Tower is no easy task. It took the Tower's operations staff nearly a year to replace every toilet and urinal in the tower with new, low-flush units, but it was well worth it. The project is estimated to save up to 37 million gallons of water over the next 15 years.

As we prepare for this year's SustainableUW Festival, which will take place Oct. 17-23, we are remembering last year's events. The 2015 Huskies for Humanity presentations focused on connections to the Duwamish River, including restoration efforts and art installations. One of the presentations was on the Duwamish Lighthouse:

UW graduate student Matt MacDonald has been researching man-made floating wetlands in a Redmond creek. The floating wetlands help create a space for plants to grow on the water, which improves water quality and habitat. Check out the video for more details on his project.

UW's ENVIR 480: Sustainability Studio class in the Program on the Environment presents students with a sustainability topic which they engage in as part of an experiential learning course. The topics change each quarter - this spring, the students researched the UW's environmental history. This is part of a series of posts by the students on some of the information they uncovered.

If you have an idea for a campus water research project, the deadline to apply for a grant through UW's Green Seed Fund is coming up!

Whether it’s conserving water or donating unused food, the University of Washington Club is always looking for new innovative ways to stay sustainable.

“We try to align ourselves with the University’s commitment to environmental stewardship,” said Jenelle Ebisu, the UW Club’s general manager. “We’re always trying to support the environment as much as we can.”

Attention UW students, faculty, and staff interested in environmental justice! This is one of the best conferences around on the topic and it takes place right here in Seattle, at Seattle University! Conference planners just announced their call for papers, due January 18th, 2016.

The need to conserve water has been readily apparent this summer, as water levels in Washington have dropped enough for the City of Seattle to call on residents and businesses to voluntarily reduce water consumption by 10 percent. The University of Washington supports this effort, and in today's look at the Sustainability Dashboard you can see how the UW has been reducing water consumption for years.