In Our Nature

Sustainability is part of the fabric of the University of Washington. One of the ten goals in the UW Sustainability Action Plan is to produce ten percent less solid waste by 2025. This means reducing the amount of waste the UW sends to the landfill by ten percent.

Rethinking and reusing items are some of the most impactful ways to move towards our goal. Programs across the UW focus on rethinking and promoting reuse. Below are programs offered at the UW Seattle campus.

Welcome new (and returning) students! With Fall quarter starting, Dawg Daze has tons of events to help new students learn about campus and resources at the UW. There are many events focusing on sustainability, including campus tours and student group meetings.

We've put together a list of some of the Dawg Daze events related to sustainability, including ways to learn more about the UW Sustainability office and how you can get engaged with sustainability efforts on campus. Find even more events on the Dawg Daze site.

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The Washington & Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WOHESC) is now accepting proposals for the next conference, to be held March 5-7, 2025, at Portland Community College. The conference theme is "Cultivating Sustainable Communities."

Submissions for program content, speakers and sessions will be accepted until October 18, 2024. See the full details below or as a PDF.

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The phrase recycling contamination isn’t clear to people outside of the waste industry. Let’s break it down:

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, contaminate means "to soil, stain, corrupt, or infect by contact or association" or "to make inferior or impure by admixture." In recycling, a contaminant is something that should not be in recycling because it can degrade other materials or the recycling process.

Common recycling contaminants that damage materials are food and liquids. Food and liquids in...

As we look toward the Fall quarter, I’m encouraged by our accomplishments of the past academic year and even more excited about what’s to come.

Over the past few months we’ve completed UW’s first comprehensive Greenhouse Gas Inventory, introduced a proposal to reduce the University’s emissions from air travel, started the process of creating the next Sustainability Action Plan and much more.

Our team has also grown over the past few months. I’m pleased to introduce three new UW Sustainability staff members: Campus Sustainability Fund Program Director Danny Arguetty; Planning...

UW students living in the North campus neighborhood can get rid of unwanted items for free during the Husky Neighborhood Cleanup. On Monday, September 23 and Tuesday, September 24 trucks will be on site accepting items for recycling or disposal.

A UW student Husky card will be required to drop off material. Items can be taken on those days to the median at 17th Ave NE & NE 47th St. from 1 to 5 p.m. or until the trucks are full.

Accepted items include:

• Recyclable materials, including scrap metal and painted or unpainted wood
• Disposal...

When we talk about sustainability, we need to zoom out to recognize the deep connections we as a people have with our environment. If we only think about practicing sustainability from a traditional environmental perspective, focusing only on ecosystems and conservation, it is easy to lose sight of these connections. Keeping a primarily ecological view such as this one makes it easy to fall into the trap of thinking that nature exists separately from people, and ignoring the perspectives and realities of much of the world. 

This thought process neglects the distinctly social...

The UW is recognized as a national leader for its deep commitment to sustainability on our campuses and in the community.

Looking forward to living on campus? Follow these tips to make move-in easier and reduce waste.

1. Bring only what you need

Don’t let those MUST HAVE shopping lists distract you - only get the basics that you’ll need. Before you start shopping, take note of all the things you use in your everyday life and will continue to use.

Ask yourself: Will I actually use this? If you don’t know, wait to buy the product. Save your money and help the...

Cleaning out an office is not an easy task. UW Recycling has some guidelines to help you get rid of your unwanted items.

Following these procedures help your department:

• stay compliant with surplus and waste regulations
• avoid messes that could impact other occupants’ work
• keep custodians safe by not overloading the waste bins they collect

…and minimize items that could be sent to the landfill!

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Even when we do our best to reduce food waste, it's inevitable some scraps will need to be disposed of. It’s important to ensure that this waste ends up in the proper receptacle - your compost bin!

The benefit of composting is twofold; it prevents food from entering landfills and emitting methane, while also allowing for the material to be reused to increase soil nutrients. By diverting food waste from landfills we are preventing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing transportation costs and creating a beneficial resource...