Recent announcements

The CSF was mentioned in the Mother Nature Network's highlighting of UW as one of the top green colleges campuses!

"Located in the green hub of Seattle, it's no wonder this university is focused on sustainability with students as the heart of the program. The student-run Campus Sustainability Fund has awarded more than $1 million to student environmental projects that help create a sustainable campus since the fund was established in 2010. The Green Seed Fund supports research that contributes to campus sustainability goals. There are 29 LEED-certified buildings on campus with plans for 15 more. UW has installed solar panels, retrofit fixtures and replaced 1,800 inefficient toilets, equaling an estimated 50 million gallons of water saved each year. The university diverts 61 percent of its waste away from landfills and 53 percent of campus food is local, organic or fair trade.

Read more here.

Final project presentations for ENVIR 495E / CEP 498A-- Environmental Grant Writing Practicum Class will be held on Wednesday March 11 from 2:30 to 4:30 in PoE Commons (ACC Main floor).

Map here: http://depts.washington.edu/poeweb/about/contact.php

Students have been working in teams to design campus projects that are eligible for funding from the Campus Sustainability Fund. They will make formal presentations at the end of the term in anticipation of pitching these ideas to the CSF committee this Spring.

Projects proposals that you will learn about:

• permaculture spaces on UW campus!
• multimodal real-time travel information screens!
• water fountain upgrades!
• a retrofit of Bagley Hall's HVAC system!
• a student position to create new media around sustainability!
• a vision to ban the sale of plastic water bottles on campus!

All are welcome at this presentation. RSVP on Facebook.

After an exciting round of project proposals and deliberations, the CSF is pleased to announce that it has awarded a total of $105,367 to six student-led projects! Congratulations to the following projects for crafting excellent proposals and making the UW a more environmentally conscious campus:

• Conservation and Sustainability at Manastash Ridge Observatory: Planning For the Next Forty Years - $59,559
• ReThink: Student Resilience Challenge - $1,605
• Kincaid Ravine Bioswale Hydrological Assessment - $5,000
• Educational Signage + Benches for Kincaid Ravine - $3,385
• Sustainable Lighting for UW Farm, Phase 1 - $3,818
• A rainwater system for the Construction Materials Laboratory in More Hall - $32,000

Congratulations again to these projects and their teams!! If you would like your project to be considered for our second round of funding, please apply online by March 3rd.

Join the discussion about biofuels on campus and beyond! The UW Biodiesel Cooperative is hosting the Biofuels Panel where students will get a chance to hear from industry experts and participate in a Q&A afterwards. The event will be held in Anderson 223 at 5:30 this Wednesday.

The Campus Sustainability Fund wants to hear from YOU, the UW student body, about what kinds of sustainability projects you want to see on campus. Join us for a night of ideas, discussions, and brainstorming sessions with students from different disciplines all over campus. Attendees will get a chance to engage in small group and large group discussions, as well as a chance to meet and chat with students on the CSF staff and committee. We are looking to hear your ideas!

Here are the details:
Who: UW students! People passionate about sustainability. People with ideas. People who want to make an impact but maybe don't know how.
When: Tuesday, Feb. 17th, 5-7pm
Where: Mechanical Engineering Building 246

RSVP on Facebook! 

The due dates for the second funding round have been determined! Please electronically submit your Letter of Intent (LOI) by Tuesday, March 3rd by 11:59pm, and your full proposal by Tuesday, April 21st by 11:59pm. You can access the application page by clicking here or via the "Apply" link in the menu bar above. 

In order to have the strongest application, please familiarize yourself with the following materials:
Application Requirements & Preferences
Application Process
Examples of full proposals from funded projects
APPLY HERE

Please contact uwcsf@uw.edu for further inquiries. 

Our awesome service learners from the Carlson Center at UW have been busy doing some reporting on CSF projects and sustainability events. Check out their three newest stories below: 

1. Building Boardwalks, Bird Blinds, and Community Bridges at the Yesler Swamp
2. UW Sustainability Panel Identifies Barriers to Solving Grand Challenges
3. Real Students Promoting Real Food

The due dates for the first funding round have been determined! Please electronically submit your Letter of Intent (LOI) by Tuesday, November 18th by 11:59pm, and your full proposal by Tuesday, January 20th by 11:59pm. You can access the application page by clicking here or via the "Apply" link in the menu bar above. 

In order to have the strongest application, please familiarize yourself with the following materials:
Application Requirements & Preferences
Application Process
Examples of full proposals from funded projects
APPLY HERE

Please contact uwcsf@uw.edu for further inquiries.

The grant writing practicum is a course offered to all students on campus who are interested in honing their grant writing skills. You will get to develop skills in grant-writing, project development, and project management for projects targeting sustainability goals. For more information visit the link and contact uwcsf@uw.edu for further inquiries. 
http://poe.washington.edu/undergraduate_programs/courses/index.php

The UW Solar project finished installing its 128 solar panels on top of the Mercer Court A dorms in April 2013. There is a great data visualization tool that tracks the hour by hour energy production of the panels. You can view the number of watt-hours produced by hours, days, or months HERE. The UW Solar team has also been featured on an episode of UW 360, see HERE. 

Construction continues down at the Center for Urban Horticulture, as volunteers from the UW Farm and Engineers Without Borders team up to build a new greenhouse. The greenhouse will provide the farm with additional space during the colder months to continue growing food. Earlier this summer volunteers leveled the plot and acquired temporary electricity access for the power tools with the help of UW Grounds and Facilities. The greenhouse is projected to be completed by the end of September, so stay tuned for more updates! 

The National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) had its annual meeting in Seattle this weekend, and Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability OFfice was there to show off all of the UW's sustainability efforts.

Associate Vice President Ruth Johnston and Campus Sustainability Fund Coordinator Graham Golbuff gave a presentation on "Strengthening Leadership on Environmental Sustainability" and answered questions from NACUBO members.

Check out the informational poster they took talking about sustainability at UW: httsp://green.uw.edu/files/promotional/NACUBO_web.pdf

CSF Coordinator Graham Golbuff presents at the 2014 NACUBO conference.

The University of Washington was recently recognized as one of the four universities in the world to receive a Sustainable Campus Excellence Award from the International Sustainable Campus Network.

As the only university in the United States chosen, the UW was acknowledged for integration, "which reconizes projects or initiatives that have integrated sustainability into the culture, community and/or operations of a campus." The UW was also noted for its commitment to sustainability through a campus-wide approach that "continually embraces multiple stakeholders as a part of the planning process, involving those who are responsible for identifying and manageing their own goals."

In its entry, UW mentioned sustainability as a key player in its educational mission, largely due to highly engaged student body which further draws in enthusiasm and support from faculty, staff, and research efforts. 

Congratulations to Sustainable Stormwater and the Yesler Swamp Trek Stop on receiving their CSF funding! They will be receiving $17,517 and $65,000 respectively to help them move forward with their projects that will further promote sustainability on campus.

The Sustainable Stormwater project will work towards uniting the disparate stormwater efforts at the UW and focus student efforts towards practical and feasible solutions for our stormwater treatment on campus. The Yesler Swamp Trek Stop aims to build a low-impact bird blind that will act as a platform for UW students as well as nearby community members to engage with the Yesler Swamp and learn about urban biodiversity.

We look forward to working with you and excited to see your progress towards your goals!

We had a packed Earth Week with two restoration work parties and a tabling event with other student groups on campus. Thank you to all who participated in the community design input activity. We got an overwhelming amount of responses and will keep you updated throughout the design process. See our Facebook page for more photos! 

The CSF will be part of three Earth Week events next week starting off with a restoration party this saturday at the Yesler Swamp. We will be giving away our custom made water bottles and tote bags to participants at all three events so please stop by to get yours! They will go quickly! 

• Yesler Swamp Restoration Party | 10-2pm, April 19th: We are partnering with the Friends of Yesler Swamp and the CEP Community Outreach Committee to bring you an Earth Day themed restoration party. There will be lots of native tree planting as well as a seed bomb making station! Where is the Yesler Swamp? Check it out on the map!
  Address: 3501 NE 41st St, Seattle, WA
  Website: yeslerswamp.weebly.com
   
• Outreach Tabling at the HUB Lawn | 10-3pm, April 22nd: More than 20 environmental campus groups will be tabling on the HUB Lawn on Earth Day. Stop by the various booths to check out all the activities happening around campus, and maybe even get some free stuff! The CSF will be making seed bombs and as well as asking your input for an upcoming design project happening on North Campus. Your input is very important so please come by and participate and earn yourself a water bottle or tote bag!
   
• Whitman Walkway Restoration | 1-4pm, April 25th: We are partnering with the Society for Ecological Restoration for a fun restoration party on North campus the friday following Earth Day. There will be snacks provided as well as water bottles and tote bags for participants. The location is right by McCarty Hall, so stop by even for half an hour and plant some trees! We would love your help. Check it out on the map!

Come celebrate the beginning of spring with the UW Farm! Make your own pizza, witness it getting baked in the farm's very own cob oven, and enjoy a delicious meal with friends from the UW Farm community. Bringing a topping to share is encouraged. More info here.

Please join the CSF and UW Solar team in an event celebrating the completion of the solar panel installation. Festivities will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 4th. Governor Jay Inslee has confirmed that he will be attending! Please see the link below for more details. See you there!

Please RSVP here.