When you have a master's degree in creative writing but end up working at the University of Washington's Surplus Store, you need an outlet for those creative juices.
Luckily for Eric Wahl, one of his jobs there is describing for the store's website all those no-longer-needed desks, chairs, microscopes and even baby grand pianos.
So a bunch of old TVs being sold at $15 to $25 each become not pedestrian electronics, but:
Winners of the third annual Husky Green Awards were announced Friday during Earth Day activities.
Students
Justin Hellier, graduate student, public affairs and environmental and forest sciences
Katie Stultz, senior, community, environment and planning
Staff
Dean Pearson, gardener lead, intercollegiate athletics
Storm Hodge, assistant director, housing and food services
Groups
Washington Student Athlete Advisory Council
Patio Display Garden Team, UW Tower Green Team
From a student-run farm to fix-it-yourself bike stations around campus, students at the University of Washington have taken a campaign to increase environmental sustainability in new directions over the past two years.
On Friday, during the school's annual Earth Day ceremony, the UW will celebrate its environmental efforts as part of HuskyFest, a three-day celebration marking the 150th anniversary of the university's founding.
They didn't have much time or experience but it was an opportunity they could not let get away.
So, students at the University of Washington and supportive professors found an old basement in the Mechanical Engineering Annex that had a garage door. Since then the race has been on to turn that space into an automotive laboratory where UW students hope to take the national lead in new car technology.
Solar-powered. Wireless. Data-driven. You might not think of these terms when describing waste collection, but this traditionally low-tech field is about to become less dirty and more digital thanks to a new program at UW.
As part of a just-launched pilot, a number of the existing outdoor garbage and recycling cans on Red Square have been replaced with high-tech, automated kiosks that collect more types of materials. The kiosks will be officially launched during a small ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10:30 a.m., Friday, April 20, during Earth Day festivities.
Come Earth Week, students can expect to see the return of some warm weather, a campus-wide clean-up challenge, a Red Square celebration — and no meat.
On Monday, April 16, Housing Food Services (HFS) looks to kick off Earth Week with a plan that, for one day, will eliminate all meat products from the dining facilities in both the 8 and Terry Hall’s Eleven 01 Cafe.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson will be the University of Washington’s commencement speaker in ceremonies June 9 at CenturyLink Field.
As EPA head, Jackson leads the Obama administration’s efforts to protect the nation’s environment. She leads a staff of more than 18,000 who address health threats from pollution and work to promote a greener economy.
When loggers have finished harvesting a forest or farmers have harvested a field, they gather the remaining scraps in big slash piles and burn them. The practice generates large amounts of carbon dioxide and smoke while wasting valuable organic matter. Carbon Cultures, a startup launched by University of Washington students after they won a $50,000 grant from the National Science Foundation, has devised an innovative way to turn those slash piles into a commercial product called biochar, a type of charcoal that increases soil fertility.
