Water

In a rainy city like Seattle, water conservation is arguably not the most important environmental issue. As the UW begins to focus on having sustainable, or “green,” operations, the issue of water conservation comes into question. However, at a university that uses 30 million gallons of water annually for irrigation, the issue isn’t a small one.

Despite having no grade for water usage, the UW Facilities Services Web site states that the University is committed to operating its “water systems using the most efficient and environmentally friendly practices possible.”

In facilities across campus, students can turn a knob and out comes ready-to-drink water.

However, organizers and participants of the Carry 5 Walk for Water fundraiser want people to think twice about the value of water while raising money to provide underserved communities with access to clean water.

This weekend, participants will walk five kilometers carrying a five-gallon container of water weighing about 40 pounds around Seward Park.

March 30 - April 1, Kane Hall

For a schedule, go to: www.hazelfilm.org

50 films and shorts will be played in 14 sessions on topics including:

climate change

environmental justice

energy

peak oil

mining

Erin McKeown worries about what may be in the landfill underneath the Montlake parking lot and intramural sports fields, but she is more concerned that she does not know everything that was once dumped in the landfill.

According to the industrial hygienist from UW Environmental Health and Safety, the only way to be sure what is in the landfill is to dig it up. This, she said, is more of a health and ecological hazard than leaving the site alone.

Every day students park, play and walk on what was Seattle's largest landfill -- a place where household trash and industrial pollutants were mixed with unknown hazardous materials to create a class-four Superfund site.

All the UW property between Hec Edmundson Pavilion and U. Village, and between Lake Washington and Montlake Boulevard, was once the destination for 66 percent of Seattle's garbage, but now serves as a way for students to get out of the classroom and into the fresh air.