University of Washington, Seattle
EN-3: Student Life

The University of Washington has more than two dozen active student groups that focus or relate to environment or sustainability topics. The primary sustainability-focused groups are:

• The Campus Sustainability Fund is helping to create a sustainable campus by fostering an environmentally conscious culture by funding student-led projects that lessen the University of Washington's environmental impact. The Campus Sustainability Fund has granted more than $2.5 million in project funding since it was established in 2010. This group is student-funded and student-run.

• EcoReps is a student-run organization that works with student peers, faculty and staff to make the University of Washington a more sustainable place by implementing green ideas. EcoReps connects student members with sustainability projects such as organizing regular Green Husky Markets showcasing local vendors, Green Dawgs Certifications for student groups, and many more.

• UW Solar is an interdisciplinary team of students at the University of Washington that works to increase the number of solar energy installations on the UW campus, and provide effective outreach to students about the benefits of smart solar investments.

• The Society for Ecological Restoration - University of Washington Chapter brings together students with a common interest in the science and practice of ecological restoration. SER-UW has removed invasive plants and planted native plants in an area of campus, and has implemented a native plant nursery on the UW campus.

• Students Expressing Environmental Dedication (SEED) is a student organization at the University of Washington, overseen by Housing and Food Services, that encourages environmentally sound practices in the residence halls and serves to raise awareness about environmental issues that affect the residential community.

• The UW Farm is a campus center for the practice and study of urban agriculture and sustainability. It is an educational, community-oriented resource for people who want to learn about building productive and sustainable urban landscapes. The Farm relies on student volunteers, and the "Dirty Dozen" student group is also associated with the UW Farm. This club is a space for students interested in gardening, urban agriculture and food systems in general to come together and share ideas about these topics and take action in these fields. The UW farm is utilized as a place for the club to learn about and participate in urban agriculture.

The UW Farm is a campus center for the practice and study of urban agriculture and sustainability. It is an educational, community-oriented resource for people who want to learn about building productive and sustainable urban landscapes. The Farm has multiple diverse urban spaces around the UW campus. Student volunteers maintain the farm, and provide outreach and tours that are incorporated into the curriculum of classes ranging from ecology to anthropology. UW Housing and Food Services has agreed to purchase food from the UW Farm for use in campus dining facilities. The UW Farm practices sustainable agriculture as much as possible; they don’t use any pesticides or herbicides, but rather use sustainable practices such as polycultures, crop rotations, organic compost, and cover crops. The UW Farm offers a CSA program for the UW community during the summer.
https://botanicgardens.uw.edu/center-for-urban-horticulture/gardens/uw-farm/

There are several opportunities for students to gain sustainable business skills through real-world experience at the University of Washington:

1. Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) Bike Shop (student-run):
The ASUW Bike Shop was founded in 1974 by UW students with one simple goal in mind: to provide affordable bike services and create a safe space to learn about and work on bicycles. Our mission is to increase access to biking and empower members of the UW community by providing hands on bike education and quality bike service
http://bike.asuw.org/

2. The Student Food Cooperative Bean Basket sells bulk non-perishable, sustainable sourced foods to students, providing an on-campus option for low-cost sustainable food options.
http://sfc.asuw.org/beanbasket2.html

3. The annual UW Environmental Innovation Challenge brings together Interdisciplinary student teams to define a clean-tech problem, design and develop the solution, and produce both a prototype and a business summary that demonstrates the market opportunity. These projects encourage students to launch products and businesses that are related to environmental sustainability.
https://foster.uw.edu/centers/buerk-ctr-entrepreneurship/entrepreneurship-competitions/eic/

The Campus Sustainability Fund (CSF) is a student-managed, student-funded green fee that allocates approximately $350,000 annually to student designed sustainability projects at the University of Washington Seattle. The fund places students in leadership positions where they gain hands-on skills in project management, grant writing, and project implementation, while simultaneously allowing students the opportunity to integrate their research and academic studies into real life applications. The committee which makes the funding decisions is entirely comprised of students.
http://csf.uw.edu

The University of Washington holds several major events related to sustainability:

• The Sustainability Fair celebrates sustainability efforts at the University of Washington during National Campus Sustainability Month, highlighting contributions and leadership efforts across campus as well as providing opportunities for students, faculty and staff to get involved. http://green.uw.edu/fair

• The UW Earth Day celebration brings students, faculty, staff, and community members together to celebrate environmental stewardship and sustainability efforts across campus and within the community. Groups can share information about their mission, educate others about their area of environmental focus, and encourage others to get involved. http://green.uw.edu/earth-day

• UW Sustainability hosted the "Sustainable Stories" series starting in January 2020, featuring a variety of speakers from across the UW talking about various sustainable efforts and topics.
https://green.uw.edu/stories

•The Bevan Series on sustainable fisheries is a popular annual event held one quarter each year, usually in the format of weekly seminars for 10 weeks, and on occasion as a two-day symposium. The series features internationally recognized experts seeking to examine current issues affecting fisheries and marine conservation, representing as many viewpoints as possible, focusing on solutions to pressing problems. All lectures are free and open to the public.
https://fish.uw.edu/news-events/seminar-series/bevan-series/

• The UW Nutritional Sciences weekly seminar series, held in Autumn and Winter quarters, examines emerging issues in food and nutrition as they relate to personal and public health. The seminar is open to all UW faculty, staff, and students and often directly relates to sustainability.
http://nutr.uw.edu/about-us/nutritional-sciences-seminar/

•The UW College of the Environment and the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences host an annual Sustaining Our World lecture, bringing in a speaker each year. http://depts.washington.edu/sefsblog/tag/sustaining-our-world-lecture-series/

• A collection of sustainability events are centralized on UW Sustainability's events calendar http://green.uw.edu/events

Examples of cultural art events at the University of Washington related to sustainability have included:

Within the School of Music, students of the Vocal Performance department are studied and performed Phillip Glass’ modern opera Hydrogen Jukebox in April 2019. This music theatre piece features a setting of Allen Ginsberg’s poetry, and presents issues of social and environmental justice and sustainability that America has grappled with in recent decades. Hydrogen Jukebox treats themes of environmental degradation, social injustice, and war. We in the Vocal Theatre Works program are excited to engage with and present a work that promotes social and cultural awareness through diverse and interdisciplinary collaboration.
https://music.washington.edu/events/2019-04-26/vocal-theatre-works-philip-glass-hydrogen-jukebox

UW Surplus partnered with graduate students in the UW School of Art + Art History + Design to create a show of artwork created from items found in the UW Surplus store. The art exposition included creations by about a dozen talented artists. Each work of art was created from repurposed items found at the Surplus store warehouse.
https://facilities.uw.edu/blog/posts/2019/01/15/uw-surplus-goods-spun-art

The UW Earth Day activities have included art installations and community art projects, where attendees could be a part of a larger art piece on what sustainability means to them.
http://green.uw.edu/earth-day

UWild Adventures offers a variety of activities for students to satisfy the thirst for adventure. From single day rock climbing trips, to multi-day bike tours, UWild helps students experience all that the Pacific Northwest has to offer.
In addition to organizing trips, UWild offers workshops and seminars, including classes on Sustainable Mountain Travel and the Leave No Trace principles.
https://www.washington.edu/ima/uwild/

The University of Washington has several sustainability-focused student employment opportunities.
- Through the Campus Sustainability Fund, two students are employed to administer and communicate about the fund.
- Within the UW Sustainability office, many students are employed each quarter to focus on various sustainability issues.
- In the Residence Halls, an employment opportunity is provided to lead SEED to ensure success of the program. Additionally, many Resident Advisers include sustainability as a focus of their programming.

There are many other sustainability programs at UW. For example:

UW EarthGames is a growing community of researchers, game developers and students who share a passion for games and the environment. We’re hard at work adapting the latest scientific research to develop amazing video and board games to teach and inspire players about the natural world and our role within it.
https://earthgames.org/

The UW Athletics Green Teams works with students and other volunteers to encourage Zero Waste practices at all home football games. Volunteers are stationed throughout the stadium and in the tailgating parking lots before and during the game to help fans properly recycle and compost.