Today, as a part of the 2016 SustainableUW Festival, the University of Washington celebrated its recertification as a Salmon Safe university. Salmon Safe certification entails meeting rigorous standards for irrigation efficiency, stormwater management, pesticide reduction and wetlands area management.
Every June as the spring quarter wraps up, students living in all on-campus residence halls and on Greek Row are required to fully vacate their rooms before summer break. Often, there’s only enough time and space to pack the essentials, which means tons of items are at risk of being left behind on University District streets.
UW Recycling, of Facilities Services' Building Services Department, is the proud recipient of a Washington State Recycling Association (WSRA) 2016 Recycler of the Year award.
Emergency Management, Transportation Services, UW Surplus, Grounds Management and UW Recycling joined the celebration on Red Square this past Friday to help educate the community about their sustainable practices and programs for Earth Day.
In PACCAR Hall this past February, three digital boards were plastered above metal garbage, compost, and recycling bins. The displays scrolled through photos and animations of plastic water bottles, Cheerios containers, and compostable napkins to educate community members how to sort recyclables, compost and trash.
For the past few months, UW Recycling has been using their new application, Streams, to better connect their administrative office to crews in the field. Through smart phones and tablets, Streams enables employees across campus to access their collection routes online, and log changes that occur throughout their day.
The IMA’s racquetball and squash courts have 204 mercury-vapor light fixtures using 250 watts each, requiring heavy and unsustainable ballasts, warm-up and cool-down times of 5-10 minutes, and plenty of maintenance calls to maintenance electricians to replace burned-out bulbs.
But now those headaches are gone, replaced with the ease and energy savings provided by LED upgrades.
There’s no doubt that the University has plenty of rivalries. With Washington State University only a few hours away, Huskies across campus are always looking for ways to conquer in competitions.
