Amount Awarded:
 $17,220
Funding Received:
 2022-2023
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The UW Farm comprises three green spaces located on the University of Washington Seattle Campus. All three sites offer growing spaces for: food and community-building, academic coursework and field trips, service learning, volunteering and also activities for the general public. During the COVID-19 Pandemic, the UW Farm continued operations as an essential food production operation supplying households, the UW Food Pantry, and area food banks.

Total space maintained by the UW Farm is 6 acres with 1.75 cultivated for crops, Many visitors enjoy walking through the farm from dawn to dusk, 365 days a year, 7 days a week. There are no gate fees, perimeter fences or NET ID required to enter the farm spaces. 

However, farm trails and pathways do not currently provide access for those with disabilities. Removing barriers for accessing green spaces would help address a sustainability issue on campus - Social Sustainability. As stated on the College of the Environment Climate Justice and Sustainability website page; 

“Environmental justice serves as a lens through which social justice principles can be incorporated into the realm of fair sustainability.”  

The issue of access, environmental justice and sustainability are intertwined. In fact, the city of Seattle reports that 6.4 % of the population has a disability or 46,971 individuals, but on our campus the number increases. According to UW DOIT, 19% of post-secondary students have disabilities. How does our campus address disabilities through the lens of Environmental Justice? By removing barriers to enjoy, recharge and experience the outdoors. 

The UW Farm at the Center for Urban Horticulture is accessible by walking, bicycling, bus and by car. But once you arrive, the single ADA pathway stops before you can enter, preventing food access for those in wheelchairs. If there were ADA pathways then people in wheelchairs could learn about urban farming and related issues, recreate, and help plant, harvest and consume the produce grown on campus 

Only the farm site at the Center for Urban Horticulture offers the potential for ADA approved pathways, due to gentle slope, proximity to restrooms, handicapped parking and amenities. This site also provides the largest number of CSF-funded projects for learning about sustainability and is adjacent to the Union Bay Natural Area, Miller library, and event areas and classrooms - all wheelchair accessible.

The UW Farm and students would like to help provide more access to the farm space, but lack funds to do so. The UW Farm budget is cobbled together with grants, sales of produce, and requests for donations from donors and departments. The farm does not receive any Student Activities Fee funding, or Academic Based Budget funding. We would like to ask CSF for the necessary support to install ADA approved pathways from one end of the farm to the other, running east -west and connecting key areas, the Native garden, World Cultural Kitchen, Heritage Orchard and Wapato Pond. These pathways would also connect visitors with disabilities to other CSF-funded projects: Compost Toilet, Vermiculture Facility, SuperShed, Children’s Garden, & Greenhouse.  

Primary Contact:
Perry Acworth, UW Farm Manager
persis@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $28,240
Funding Received:
 2022-2023
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

The Burke Meadow is located adjacent to the Burke Museum and the primary campus entrance from the University District light rail station from NE 43rd St. The ~10,000 s.f. meadow is planted with a diverse mix of prairie plants native to the region, many of which are important food and medicinal species relevant to indigenous cultural needs and practices. Since 2020, an interdisciplinary team of faculty, staff, and students have collaborated on developing and implementing plans to monitor and manage this unique habitat in an urban area to support the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture mission to “care for and share natural and cultural collections so all people can learn, be inspired, generate knowledge, feel joy, and heal.”

More specifically, the team works together to coordinate volunteer work parties and public events, study plant community changes, and communicate the importance of the meadow as a living exhibit on campus. The work has been supported, financially and through in-kind donations, by the Campus Sustainability Fund, the Burke Museum, UW Grounds, Urban@UW, and the Departments of Biology and Landscape Architecture with advice and contributions from external partners including members of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation, Oxbow Farm and Conservation Center, and the design firm Gustafson Guthrie Nichol.

Primary Contact:
Ken Yocom
kyocom@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $31,959
Funding Received:
 2022-2023
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Getting to Zero: Sustainable Stormwater Feasibility at the The Historic ASUW Shell House

Currently at the site of the ASUW Historic Shell House, stormwater from the building and adjacent parking areas mixes with toxins and flows directly into Lake Washington. The objective of this feasibility study is to investigate the viability of using bio-filtration and retention systems to treat all stormwater onsite at the Shell House location, and to create designs and accompanying documentation for implementing this strategy. The goal is to utilize naturally filtered grey water for toilet flushing and irrigation, while ensuring that all stormwater runoff is prevented from entering the lake, and providing onsite interpretation of these systems.

It is well documented that the leading cause of degradation in the Puget Sound and Lake Washington comes from stormwater pollution.  The University of Washington, as a waterfront campus and continued growth, has a growing coverage of impervious surfaces supported by antiquated stormwater infrastructure that increases stormwater pollution and poses significant ecological and human health risks. However, new sustainable and innovative landscape solutions are available that can remediate pollutants and not only naturally clean the water, but also recycle it for other purposes rather than draining it into the lake, which causes significant negative environmental effects.  

This site, at this time, is a unique opportunity to demonstrate ecological stormwater systems to the campus and larger community. The Shell House, the UW’s first Seattle Historic Landmark, is about to embark on an extensive renovation of the building  and site into space for the campus and visitors, including student spaces, event venues, historic and cultural exhibits, and a restored waterfront. The site already gets abundant traffic, including on foot for waterfront access and during stadium events and by boat during the spring and summer months, yet with the new light rail,  the upcoming UW Continuous Waterfront Trail Concept that runs directly through the site, and the popular book and upcoming movie “Boys in the Boat,” it will only increase. By creating a visible, beautiful and sustainable onsite water treatment along with interpretive educational displays, it has the unique potential to be a transformative landscape. It will provide the opportunity to showcase how responsible development of existing sites can be designed to respect the environment, encourage biodiversity, connect with historic narratives of people and place through design and interpretation, and create beautiful gathering places all while visibility demonstrating the highest level of sustainability at the University of Washington.

This project is unique; it will be the first to demonstrate a net-zero stormwater treatment of a building on campus and the first to incorporate these systems on campus in an existing building (the renovation of the building being a sustainable act in itself). Together with UW Recreation, The College of Built Environments Center for Preservation and Adaptive Reuse, The Green Futures Lab and students across campus, this feasibility project will research appropriate site-specific ecological stormwater systems, present design schematics, and investigate educational alternatives for the UW Project Team to implement as the design phase begins for the shell house renovation next year.

Primary Contact:
Kathryn Rogers Merlino
krm@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
Funding Received:
 2022-2023
Primary Contact:
Kathryn Rogers Merlino
krm@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $19,833
Funding Received:
 2022-2023
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

The built environment industry is in the midst of a data revolution paired with a drive for sustainable campus operations. Innovation, information, communication access, and integration provide an opportunity to utilize this abundance of data to reach sustainable goals and benchmarks. Digital twin and Internet of Things (IoT) enabled devices are emerging ICT (information and communication technology) with the potential to reduce buildings’ energy consumption if strategically used, maintained, and operated. However, transitions to use digital twin supported operations will need organizational changes in the ways work is done in order to best utilize this data-rich technology. Using new technology in the old operational ways will not change energy consumption.

This research seeks to understand how the facility and sustainability management groups at the University of Washington will need to change and adapt in order to leverage digital twin technologies to achieve lower energy consumption and better performing built environments in the university campus setting. In this research, we propose to develop a framework detailing how the existing work of facility strategists and operators will change with the implementation of a digital twin based system, and what new work will be introduced for the facility management team in terms of energy management practices. We intend for this framework to help guide UW facility managers and sustainability strategists in the technology adoption process in order to ease the transition period and most optimally utilize technological systems to their highest potential sustainable output.

Primary Contact:
Daniel Dimitrov
ddimitro@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $9,078
Funding Received:
 2022-2023
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

First Nations is a Registered Student Organization who aims to promote Indigenous culture through events such as Taking Back the Dinner and the annual UW Spring Powwow. First Nations also advocates for Native students’ interests, needs, and welfare, supplements and complements the formal education of Native students at UW, expresses our collective Native student opinion and interests to the University and community at large on issues affecting Native student life and culture, and implements the American Indian Retention and Recruitment (A.I.R.R.) Program. We are requesting financial support for the 52nd Spring Powwow occurring this academic year.

A powwow is a gathering of Native American, Alaskan Native, and First Nations peoples. Powwow consists of cultural Native American practices such as dancing and singing. People from all tribes and nations are welcome to partake in these cultural practices, and non-natives are welcome to join and watch the performances. Powwows are considered celebrations of culture for Native people. Historically, First Nations hosts our Spring Powwow at the Hec Edmundson Pavilion. It is a tradition we value as our families and communities local to Seattle and Washington had the privilege to attend previous powwows in Hec Edmundson and we desire to celebrate our culture in the same manner. In keeping with the Native American powwow circuit, First Nations hosts our Spring Powwow during the second weekend of April. It is attended by UW students, both Native and non-Native, and Indigenous communities within and outside of Washington State, resulting in over 4,000 attendees. First Nations also invites local organizations led by and committed to Native communities, such as the Urban Indian Health Institute and Urban Native Education Alliance, to share their resources and network within our community. The Spring Powwow is fully organized and supported by UW students and volunteers. This gives our members the opportunity to develop their event planning, coordination, and communication skills.

Primary Contact:
Annicette Gilliam
arg2200@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $2,200
Funding Received:
 2022-2023
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

We have designed three large signs for the UW Farm site at the Center for Urban Horticulture: one for the entrance that includes a detailed map and history of the farm, one that answers a commonly asked question, "where does UW Farm food go?" and one that describes the processes in the vermicomposting facility (another CSF-enabled project for the farm). Once they are printed, we will stamp braille into them, attach the lift-the-flap components, and attach the 3D interactive components (a model of a worm for the Vermicomposting sign and a model of a tomato for the Where Does UW Farm Food Go? sign). We will mount them on steel signposts before the ground gets too cold, and we'll keep track of their impact on the farm.

This project holds great significance for the community around the UW Farm. So many people, involved in UW or not, walk through the farm every day with no way of knowing what it is or how long it's been there. And if they do, they may not know what purpose it serves for the university and our community. These signs will educate the public not only about the farm itself, but about urban agriculture and food security in general.

Primary Contact:
Oliver Norred
onorred@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $3,000
Funding Received:
 2022-2023
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The Q Center’s Menstruation Station program aims to undo and mitigate the structures of oppression that impact menstruating bodies with a focus on the needs of queer and trans folks who are often left out of menstruation discourse and care. Our goal is to re-empower bleeding and alleviate the financial and emotional burdens experienced by people who menstruate by providing free menstrual products (both disposable and reusable) to those who need them.

Primary Contact:
Joie Waxler
jwaxler@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $43,339
Funding Received:
 2021-2022
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Every day the campus community actively engages with the buildings where we learn, work, play or live. However, most are unaware of the over 100 species of birds found on campus or that they collide with the buildings’ surfaces. Birds cannot detect transparent glass surfaces, like windows or glass walkways, and fly towards vegetation, open spaces, or perches beyond the glass, hitting it head-on. Reflective glass is also dangerous for birds as it can reflect habitat space or the sky, confusing birds as they fly towards the reflection resulting in collisions. And night collisions occur when birds fly towards lit windows or surfaces, particularly during fall and spring migration. A study from the University of British Columbia estimates that college campuses can kill up to 10,000 birds yearly due to collisions. However, there are design solutions available to prevent bird building collisions.

This project aims to understand where collision “hot spots” are on our campus and develop a plan to treat them. By monitoring 20 campus buildings over six quarters, we will increase our understanding of which species are affected by collisions and identify the deadliest design features. The project will also bring awareness to the issue of bird building collisions by engaging campus and local communities through campus tours, a course taught by the project lead, an app allowing anyone to record collisions across campus, and recruiting volunteers for collision monitoring.

Gathering data about the collision victims, birds, and deadly architectural features on campus provides a unique opportunity for students to engage in the study of birds and buildings. This convenient central location eliminates extra travel time or field trip fees, allowing more students to join the project. Further, this project will engage underrepresented communities, particularly in the environmental sciences and architecture and the LGBTQIA community, first-generation students, and women in the sciences through volunteer opportunities, the project's course, and research assistant positions.

 

Primary Contact:
Judy Bowes
jbowes2@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $500
Funding Received:
 2021-2022
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

UW Athletics has an active sustainability program that engages with the campus and surrounding community on many levels. This includes UW student-athletes, who use their voices and outreach to promote sustainability though a variety of platforms.

The Student Athletes at UW for Sustainability (SAUWS) group was formed in 2019 with the intent to organize student-athletes to complete projects that make an impact in the athletic village, on campus or in our surrounding community. Sustainability has become a priority of UW student-athletes, and this group provides a framework to work together on projects they are passionate about.

This year, SAUWS is planning a restoration/education project along the waterfront next to the Conibear Shellhouse and Dempsey Indoor Facility. The project encompasses wetland restoration and removal of invasive species and garbage.

The project also provides an opportunity for UW’s student-athletes to create an educational program to share their knowledge and passion. We plan to partner with Pine Lake Middle School’s YESC group to take on this restoration project and create a fun, interactive education sessions for the middle school students presented by the student-athletes and supported by experts in the field. SAUWS is especially interested in connecting with youth in the community on environmental education, and this is a unique opportunity for them to share mutual interests in sports and the environment.

We also plan to create a video summarizing the event that can be shared on UW, Pac-12, and student-athletes’ media platforms. Our hope is that the video demonstrates our athletes’ commitment and passion for sustainability, and that others will be inspired to do similar work and create programs like these in their communities.

UW student-athletes are invested, and want to be leaders in sports sustainability, and foster healthy and sustainable communities where we live, learn and play. This project is hopefully the first of many collaborative community projects lead by UW student-athletes.

Primary Contact:
Sara Matovina
smatov@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $5,000
Funding Received:
 2021-2022
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

As part of the Biomedical Engineering Society at the University of Washington, we founded an annual mentorship program centered around educational equity. Our mentorship program aims to not only create a mentorship ecosystem throughout the department of engineering and UW College of Engineering, but also aims to make a career in engineering and bioengineering accessible for students of all backgrounds. We hope that by inspiring, supporting, and preparing future students for potential careers in engineering and STEM, we will leave a lasting impact on the future of bioengineering.

Primary Contact:
Joey Liang
joeylia@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $10,000
Funding Received:
 2021-2022
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

ISAUW is a 501(c)(3) non-profit cultural organization dedicated to promoting the diverse Indonesian culture to the communities in the Greater Seattle area. ISAUW’s vision is to become the leading Indonesian Student Association in the United States. We aim to achieve this by building a respectful, well-rounded, diverse, yet nationalistic young Indonesian community in the Greater Seattle Area and in the United States. Established for over ten years, ISAUW would like to carry on and improve the legacy of our previous years and hold the most successful Keraton Indonesian Festival to date. Our team consists of 42 members, and we have three divisions - the Operations team, the Communication and Outreach team and the Finance team. Each division plays a unique role, but we all work together to ensure that Keraton will continue to uphold our goals of sharing Indonesian culture, spreading environmental awareness of Indonesia to our community and to make a greater sustainable impact than we have ever done before.

As the largest Indonesian cultural event on the West Coast and second largest in the United States, Keraton has experienced high growth, culminating in 2019’s event that attracted over 12,000 people. ISAUW expects many visitors this year as well and will be showcasing the diversity of Indonesia through traditional food, dance, music, and art relating to Keraton 2022’s theme of Indonesian Retro Films. Beyond ISAUW’s purpose of entertaining and educating the community about Indonesia, we also wish to create a memorable sustainable impact through our event. This year, we have decided to take a greater step towards sustainability by collaborating with Solar Chapter, an Indonesian, UW-registered student organization based in many parts of the world that aims to spread awareness on the environmental issues happening in Indonesia to educate our community on their projects. Furthermore, we are planning to have a batik awareness and creation booth, traditional Indonesian games, a photography contest, and many more booths designed to enrich the visitors’ knowledge about Indonesia and Indonesian retro films. ISAUW also guarantees to put the different aspects of sustainability as one of our top priorities in preparation for this event. Our total estimated budget for Keraton as of today is around $43,000. With this, ISAUW would like to apply for CSF funding to make Keraton possible again this year. For more information on our student organization, refer to www.isauw.org or follow us on Instagram @isauwhuskies.

Primary Contact:
Amy Dharmawan
amyjd125@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $29,950
Funding Received:
 2021-2022
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The Collective is a space for imagining what a new wave in academia can look like when queer and trans BIPOC peoples are able to contribute with our imaginations.

As a collective we seek to build a sustainable community for those whose identities, scholarly interests, and creative mediums are not adequately supported in our disciplines, yet our creative mediums and identities are intricately tied to the contributions we intend to make in our fields. We provide peer to peer creative opportunities, community educational opportunities, funding, creative space, residencies, and art shows and performances.

Primary Contact:
Brittney Frantece
britfran@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $12,000
Funding Received:
 2021-2022
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The UW Farm supplies the UW Food Pantry and greater community with produce each year, but as the climate changes, the increasing discrepancy between demand during the academic year and the summer growing season is resulting in inadequate supply. Climate impacts to the UW campus are already felt by the Farm, in the form of extremes of moisture, heat, and cold that reduce crop output: in 2020 inclement weather spoiled over 1,800 pounds of produce at the UW Farm, roughly 15% of their annual production. Our solution revolves around a high tunnel, a USDA-approved method for season extension, to protect crops and extend the production season by multiple months while providing an educational space for the community. The project further incorporates small-scale solar and rainwater catchment systems, creating a sustainable and resilient space for long term benefit. The Resiliency Tunnel team of undergraduates, graduates, and faculty share the ambitious goal of creating an agricultural structure and landscape that sustainably and respectfully gives back to the community and surrounding areas, with three key pillars: 1) Sustainability and Resilience, 2) Education, and 3) Cultural Reciprocity.

Primary Contact:
Emma Maggioncalda
emmamagg@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $700
Funding Received:
 2021-2022
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Eat Local is an outdoor food fair, featuring 5 to 10 small and minority-owned restaurants from the Greater Seattle area. To successfully promote our event throughout campus, we hired a student designer to design an aesthetic infographic that represented and emphasized the purpose of our event and used it on flyers, Instagram, and banners. Additionally, we created a pamphlet that included brief information about each of the vendors and their contact information, in hopes of producing an appealing brand image to students and attracting potential customers. In guidance of the current food protocols and guidelines, we rented multiple trash bins to maintain a clean, sanitary environment throughout the duration of the event. During the event, each vendor set up their respective food truck on the HUB lawn and had an opportunity to not only sell their products to the students but also build a relationship with them. In doing so, the vendors were able to make an impactful, palpable presence on campus. To support them, we played music in hopes of attracting greater foot traffic and informed students to spread awareness of and understand the importance of supplier diversity in the economy and community. Our aim was that, at the conclusion of the event, the majority of students would be more inclined to advocate and support minority-owned businesses.

Primary Contact:
Michael Kelleher
mjk2001@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $925
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Here at the University of Washington, we are proud of our trees! About 480 different kinds of trees beautify the University of Washington grounds, and while 28 are species native to the Pacific Northwest, the vast majority are exotic in nature. Since before the turn of the century, forestry professors, botanists, gardeners and landscape architects have planted this wide array of trees in order to facilitate both decoration and education. This means that the U.W. provides a fantastic opportunity to observe and appreciate a wide variety of arboreal specimens in a relatively small area (what might be called a Living laboratory). The Brockman memorial Tree Tour is a fantastic way to experience this wide variety of campus trees. The current tour is an online adaptation of the original Brockman Memorial Tree Tour designed by Professor C. Frank Brockman in 1980. Recently renovated by students Theodore Hoss and Thuy Luu of the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, the newly created website and pamphlets introduce the viewer to the great green realm of a campus renowned for its lovely landscape. This updated Brockman Memorial Tour incorporates 17 new species, including 5 Washington native species never before included. Additionally, 10 trees from the original tour which have since been lost from campus have been replaced with new specimens so that this amazing resource may retain its immense diversity of species. It is the largest campus tree tour of any university on the west coast. In order to improve the benefits of this site still further, the tour update includes a digitization of the "Tree of the Day" display once housed in Anderson Hall, as well as several newly designed tours which include still more of the vast diversity of trees seen on campus. By providing student and community members the chance to better understand their environment, we hope to foster a more sustainable world. May you gain information and inspiration.

Primary Contact:
Theodore Hoss
tdhoss@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Amid the ongoing protests that followed the death of George Floyd, the student-led Diversity and Inclusion Group (DIG) in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences organized a department-wide conversation on race. Participating graduate students, faculty, postdoctoral researchers and department staff discussed problems and solutions within small groups and a consensus emerged that, as a precursor to becoming more anti-racist, we must educate ourselves about the history and the present day manifestation of racism within our field. Following this meeting, a smaller group of department members participated in a student-led reading group about race in academia. Motivated by the fruitful discussions in this reading group and a desire to engage a larger portion of the department in this conversation, we created a special topics class for Autumn quarter For the first time in its history, our department will offer students academic credit for learning about issues of racism and equity as they relate to our field. DIG recognizes that as atmospheric scientists we can practice anti-racism in two primary ways. First, we can work to make a more inclusive environment within our own field. Second, we can take into account the systemic inequities that exist when developing our studies and when we inform policy decisions. The latter mission is consistent with goal 10 of the UN sustainable development goals, which states that, “To reduce inequalities, policies should be universal in principle, paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations.”

We have identified five main topic areas for our course:

  1. Indigenous rights
  2. Environmental justice in cities
  3. The history of scientific racism
  4. Climate Justice and the global south
  5. Whiteness, science, and academia

Our course will focus on guest speakers and will be made broadly accessible to the entire Department of Atmospheric Sciences. We are currently recruiting at least one guest speaker to speak to each of our five focus areas. Some of these topics are best addressed by non-academic speakers, such as climate justice activists or employees at non-profit organizations. Giving an honorarium to speakers not only shows our appreciation for their work but also compensates them for their time. Moreover, it allows us to recruit more diverse speakers who may not have community outreach and service built into their salaries as many academics do. With the support of our department chair, we have leveraged virtual learning to our advantage to ensure that all interested department members will be able to participate in this course. In a typical quarter, the Atmospheric Sciences department has two seminars each week, which are consistently attended by much of the department. The chair has allowed us to use the time slot of one of these science seminars for our course. Additionally, a virtual platform allows us to recruit a more diverse set of speakers as the burden of traveling to the department to deliver a talk in person is removed.

Primary Contact:
Rachel Atlas
ratlas@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $3,910
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Inactive

Executive Summary

Our project entails the creation of a SMART Hive model based off of the Langstroth Hive design and complete with sensor technologies that allow beekeepers to monitor the hive condition, detect hive stressors, and alert beekeepers to intervene before colony collapse, a deadly environmental issue that affects thousands of hives in the United States. As part of this project, we will conduct virtual and in-person workshops to teach UW students about the pollinator crisis and how to plant pollinator gardens (see our prior work with pollinator education: www.thebeeducated.org).

Primary Contact:
Annalisa Mueller-Eberstein
anname37@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

In pursuit of menstrual justice, the University of Washington Q Center will purchase and distribute sustainable, eco-friendly menstrual products to 100 UW students in need. The products—reusable cotton underwear liners, reusable cotton pads, and menstrual cups—will be purchased from GladRags as part of the Q Center’s upcoming initiative called Menstruation Station. Led by Graduate Program Coordinator Joie Waxler, the Menstruation Station will provide wraparound services that center the experiences, needs, and desires of bodies that bleed. The initiative aims to undo and mitigate the structures of oppression that impact menstruating bodies with a focus on the needs of queer and trans folks who are often left out of menstruation discourse and care. Distributing free, sustainable menstrual products will re-empower bleeding and alleviate the financial, emotional, and environmental burdens experienced by people who menstruate. Follow the Q Center on Instagram (@uwqcenter) or visit our website (https://sites.uw.edu/qcenter) to stay up to date on Menstruation Station programming and to submit a request for free menstrual products.

Follow us @uwqcenter, and fill out the menstrual product request form at tinyurl.com/menstruationfrustration

Primary Contact:
Joie Waxler
jwaxler@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $52,245
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

As of September 2021, the UW Farm team launched the Strategic Plan Initiative. This project is all about creating room for the UW Farm team - which includes students, staff, faculty, campus organizations, and community members - to collectively reimagine the structure and purpose of the UW Farm as to be more financially sustainable. As a campus and community organization, the UW Farm has provided innumerable opportunities for people to learn about and practice urban farming. The UW Farm is also a key food provider for UW Housing & Food Services, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shareholders, and the UW Food Pantry. This latter partnership helped the UW Farm further step into the role of addressing food insecurity and community resilience throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the UW Farm holds a valued partnership with wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ through the Native Garden and the future Cultural Kitchen. In moving forward with developing a 5-year Strategic Plan, we aim to strengthen community partnerships and create the financial infrastructure to support diverse, unique, and inclusive opportunities for our campus community. The Campus Sustainability Fund is supporting this project through funding a year-long graduate student Research Assistant - Madison Rose Bristol - to spearhead this work. Some of this funding also assists the UW Farm Manager - Perry Acworth - in restructuring UW Farm activities. Though this work will take place between September 2021 - June 2022, our hope is to begin implementing the 5-year plan in the Spring of 2022, and to lay the foundation for the development of another Strategic Plan in 2027.

 

 

Primary Contact:
Madison Bristol
mbrist96@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $23,430
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

In partnership with UW Solar and UW Transportation, we are designing and planning the installation for a solar-powered electric bicycle charging station that uses a 2nd life electric vehicle battery for storage. The system will be off-grid and can supply energy to up to ten electric bikes at a time. By installing a renewable powered charging system, we will help UW reach their goal of a 45% emissions reduction by 2030, as outlined by the UW Sustainability Action Plan. Additionally, our project will provide visibility for sustainable transportation and renewable energy on campus.

Primary Contact:
Kelsey Foster
kfost@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $40,570
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Spearheaded and designed by the Green Futures Lab with funding from the CSF, the UW Biodiversity Green Wall was completed in the fall of 2012, transforming two blank concrete walls into lush urban habitat. Located in the southeast corner of Gould Hall on 15th Avenue and NE 40th Street, the award-winning project has been widely publicized and has the potential to provide numerous benefits such as reducing building energy needs, mitigating heat island effects, conserving potable water, reducing stormwater pollution, and increasing urban biodiversity.

Early 2019, the required irrigation system for the Biodiversity Green Wall (Green Wall) malfunctioned and has not been able to be repaired. Consequently, there has been 100% mortality of the plantings on the wall, despite considerable effort to keep them alive over the summer by hand watering. Most recently, Covid-19 has barred progress and efforts to get the Green Wall up and running again.

Since Fall of 2020 the Green Futures Lab has been engaging in conversations with Green Wall stakeholders to begin revitalization efforts. With funding from the CSF we are excited to fix the irrigation system and replant the wall this summer. The Biodiversity Green Wall has proven to be an invaluable resource and asset to the College of Built Environments, the University of Washington, and the surrounding community. Its revival will be a happy symbol of better times when students return in the autumn.

@uwgreenfutureslab

Primary Contact:
Emma Petersen
empete@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $20,000
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Inactive

Executive Summary

Our project is RhizoMet. We will utilize engineered bacteria in plants to selectively accumulate arsenic by expressing novel proteins with a high binding affinity to the heavy metal, which will be a more sustainable method of removing arsenic from the environment. Our plan is to install these plants in the local areas that are affected by arsenic upon completion.

@washington_igem

Primary Contact:
Conrad Yee
yeecb@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Amid the ongoing protests that followed the death of George Floyd, the student-led Diversity and Inclusion Group (DIG) in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences organized a department-wide conversation on race. Participating graduate students, faculty, postdoctoral researchers and department staff discussed problems and solutions within small groups and a consensus emerged that, as a precursor to becoming more anti-racist, we must educate ourselves about the history and the present day manifestation of racism within our field. Following this meeting, a smaller group of department members participated in a student-led reading group about race in academia. Motivated by the fruitful discussions in this reading group and a desire to engage a larger portion of the department in this conversation, we created a special topics class for Autumn quarter For the first time in its history, our department will offer students academic credit for learning about issues of racism and equity as they relate to our field. DIG recognizes that as atmospheric scientists we can practice anti-racism in two primary ways. First, we can work to make a more inclusive environment within our own field. Second, we can take into account the systemic inequities that exist when developing our studies and when we inform policy decisions. The latter mission is consistent with goal 10 of the UN sustainable development goals, which states that, “To reduce inequalities, policies should be universal in principle, paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations.”

We have identified five main topic areas for our course:

  1. Indigenous rights
  2. Environmental justice in cities
  3. The history of scientific racism
  4. Climate Justice and the global south
  5. Whiteness, science, and academia

Our course will focus on guest speakers and will be made broadly accessible to the entire Department of Atmospheric Sciences. We are currently recruiting at least one guest speaker to speak to each of our five focus areas. Some of these topics are best addressed by non-academic speakers, such as climate justice activists or employees at non-profit organizations. Giving an honorarium to speakers not only shows our appreciation for their work but also compensates them for their time. Moreover, it allows us to recruit more diverse speakers who may not have community outreach and service built into their salaries as many academics do. With the support of our department chair, we have leveraged virtual learning to our advantage to ensure that all interested department members will be able to participate in this course. In a typical quarter, the Atmospheric Sciences department has two seminars each week, which are consistently attended by much of the department. The chair has allowed us to use the time slot of one of these science seminars for our course. Additionally, a virtual platform allows us to recruit a more diverse set of speakers as the burden of traveling to the department to deliver a talk in person is removed.

Primary Contact:
Rachel Atlas
ratlas@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $29,919
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The UW Sustainability Action plan has 10 targets ranging from increasing student engagement to sourcing more food locally, and despite UW's world-leading sustainability program, not all students are aware of the current goals of the plan and how they can contribute. Our group EarthGames would like to build an app that illustrates the 10 targets of the UW Sustainability Action Plan, to be played by students, faculty, and staff. The game will be both an educational tool and also a promotional tool, connecting the player to different events and groups on campus. Sustainability Action Arena will be playable on web browsers and mobile devices. The code will also be made available under a creative commons license, so other universities or groups could use the game framework to highlight their own sustainability goals.

The prototype would be designed over the summer by our core EarthGames group, including Prof. Dargan Frierson of the Atmospheric Science department, Prof. Jessica Kaminsky from the Civil and Environmental Engineering department, lead developer Rikki Parent, a UW alumni and an experienced EarthGames programmer and artist, and at least two student employees. During the summer, this core group would get feedback on the earliest game models from UW staff. Then the 10 rough sketches of the games would be digitized by our resident game developer, Rikki Parent, and 2 to 3 hired undergraduate students over the rest of the summer. Once the Autumn quarter 2021 begins, undergraduate students in the class ATMS 495: EarthGames Studio would test all 10 prototype games while taking the class for course credit only. Another 2 to 3 undergraduates would be hired to continue building the game for a total of 5 hired students. This was the way our employee Rikki at EarthGames first learned to develop games in 2018, through a grant from CSF that funded a more experienced game developer, as well as her and other students. The importance of having an experienced designer at the start of a project is essential to its success, and once that foundation is laid, the students' own creations can flourish. During autumn quarter, we will perform several testing activities to understand how much our games help players learn about the Sustainability Action Plan.

The game would be built and promoted online, requiring no location on campus other than the ATMS 495 class space. The proposed cost of this project is $29917.60, and we would like to start right away if funding is awarded.

Primary Contact:
Dargan Frierson
dargan@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $610
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

ReThink, GC3 and Net Impact are teaming up to bring back UW's 4th annual Global Sustainability Case Competition in an all new, virtual setting! Teams of up to four students will compete to solve a real-life business problem with an innovative and environmentally sustainable solution. Our competition is focused on being a beginner-friendly case in order to expose prospective and newly-admitted business students to the world of case competitions. It serves as an introduction to sustainability in real-world business decisions and prepares them to tackle more difficult case competitions later on. In 2020, we had 12 teams compete over the course of 72-hours to explore the carbon impact of the fashion industry through the lens of Patagonia. This year, we are excited to organize a larger event with more teams as we tackle challenges in a new industry. Following the preliminary rounds, the top-scorring team in each virtual room will proceed to compete at our live virtual round on March 6th from 1-3pm which will be open to the public to watch.

Primary Contact:
YuYu Madigan
fywm@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Eraced Magazine is a print and online media publication chronicling the ways racial trauma of the past impacts all spheres of life today. Rather than echoing the rigid confines of race as a matter of opinion, Eraced is guided by the concept of intersectionality and seeks to amplify the voices of Black, Indigenous, and people of color. The publication has a number of mediums for discussing race, including news and op-ed pieces, photoessays, poetry, prose, graphic illustrations, and podcasts. To join this community is to work to dismantle systemic oppression in journalism, art, and literature, and engage in a newsroom that at its core celebrates difference and inclusion.

Primary Contact:
Suhani Dalal
suhani8@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $997
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Our goal is to give high-school students a chance to experience the engineering process and learn about renewable energy. We want to encourage them to explore engineering and sustainability, especially as a possible major and career. Furthermore, to promote equal access and opportunity to the engineering field, we want to especially target students from lower socioeconomic areas like South King County. We plan on accomplishing our goal by creating Intro to Engineering Kits and accompanying educational materials (we expect to finish the design, put together the kits, and deliver them by Fall 2021). The kits will have materials & basic instructions to build a working mini wind turbine that harnesses the wind and converts it to electricity. The kits are created in a way that allows students to design, manufacture, test, and iterate on their mini-wind turbines. We will also deliver a set of educational materials about the various engineering disciplines, careers, and about the importance of sustainability and renewable energy.

Primary Contact:
Alex Amimoto
alexa8@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $2,000
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Inactive

Executive Summary

Project Orca is the Human Powered Submarine Team’s eco effort to manufacture our submarine hull using sustainable materials such as flax fibers and a recycled foam core. As an undergraduate engineering team at the University of Washington, our main goal is to provide our nearly 50 member team with as much real engineering experience as possible by designing, manufacturing, testing, and racing a competitive human powered submarine. Given our philosophy, this year we decided to take a more sustainable approach to our normal engineering practices. In years past, we have almost always had a carbon fiber hull. All the materials used in this process are very detrimental to the environment and the production of carbon fiber releases a significant amount of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Our team has spent this school year (2020-2021) pursuing new innovational challenges. Taking this stance towards sustainability, we believe that this project is a very innovative way to incorporate sustainable practices into a field that does not have direct ties to sustainability. The plan is to use this new sustainable flax fiber hull for two years and then dispose of it properly . We aim to reduce our carbon footprint as an engineering team, give our members valuable sustainable engineering experience, and set a sustainable example for other engineering clubs.

Primary Contact:
Alex Bartoletti
alexbart@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $2,750
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

“On The Ground” would serve as a public record or social history of the work that has been done on the ground (or ground-adjacent) at UW. People can access an archive and learn from a directory of photography, personal anecdotes, and interviews, ranging topics from cultural history to current movements in and around the UW community. OTG will feature stories on Black, Indigenous, or minority undergraduates, graduates, and faculty in and around campus, who will share their experiences with the system and their frontline work in the movement for justice within various disciplines.

Primary Contact:
Krandhasi Kodaiarasu
krandk@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $3,000
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The goal of this project is to better understand how food systems and traditional health care services can work together to support the needs of food-insecure families. The Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic (OBCC) is a community health clinic located in the Central District of Seattle that provides low-income and predominately BIPOC families with free or low-cost medical, dental, mental health, and nutrition services. Addressing fundamental causes of ill health is a major focus of this clinic, and as a result they often partner with non-profit and governmental organizations to address basic needs such as food security and housing. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, when everything shut down at the start of the pandemic, OBCC staff pivoted to basic needs services, the primary of which was addressing food security. Staff working on this, or the “Food Brigade”, did this through a variety of approaches – e.g. partnering with other food systems stakeholders to gather food for home delivery and linking families to community-based organizations also providing food for families in need. Because of the current Black Lives Matter movement and increased awareness around systemic racism as the fundamental underlying driver of negative health outcomes, we expect (and hope) to see more health care systems focus on meeting the social needs (e.g., food security, housing) of patients as part of the basic standard of care. OBCC has been at the forefront of this movement for a long time. Our hope and reason for this proposal is to add on interviews with 1) OBCC clinic staff and 2) food-insecure families to share and highlight a record of this work that can provide guidance for other health care clinics/systems.

***Photo came on behalf of the City of Seattle, photo credit to photographer, Naomi Ishisaka***

Primary Contact:
Meagan Brown
mcbrown2@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $750
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

As graduate students in the Division of Art History and future educators, researchers, and museum professionals, we believe that we must be attuned to questions of diversity and its implications on our field. The art historical canon encourages prioritization and hierarchies within scholarship and museum displays. We aim to create an inclusive and actively anti-racist art history, by seeking out, researching, and teaching the work of artists and scholars that are often left on the margins. The field of art history is fruitful ground for rethinking how art is shaped by and can shape our world and how we relate to one another within it. Therefore, our reading group engages with this crucial topic and consider questions including: how do we develop an inclusive art history while also meeting curricular expectations and “standard knowledge” in the discipline? What does it mean to go beyond the canon, which primarily promotes white, male, cis, able-bodied artists from Europe and North America? What are the risks of projecting our contemporary notions of race and diversity onto societies that are many centuries removed? It is our goal to rethink our approach to research and language and to create a space for such conversations in a centuries-old discipline. This initiative is supported by the Art History faculty within the School of Art + Art History + Design and affiliated to the Graduate Students of Art History organization.

Primary Contact:
Or Vallah
orvallah@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $3,000
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

This project is co-led by a group of graduate Students of Color at UW, Kaleb Germinaro, Kayla Chui, Jessica Ramirez, and Dr. Shaneé Washington, a faculty member in the College of Education, who volunteer at various community learning spaces outside of schools. One of these spaces is Nurturing Roots, a 1/4-acre urban farm that dedicates itself to cultivating healthy food options by growing organic produce and engaging with community members through farm tours. Since our time volunteering at Nurturing Roots, we notice many people routinely visit, contribute to the garden and feel welcomed by staff members at the garden and other community members. These types of spaces where Black, Indigenous, and Communities of Color (BIPOC) feel safe and supported exist in pockets around Seattle, but it can be difficult to find. Because of this, this project aims to better understand the ways community learning places in Seattle foster belonging and learning among BIPOC communities and what motivates them to keep coming back. By creating and implementing a survey to BIPOC at Nurturing Roots, this project will build out a community map of places that foster belonging, learning and healthy connections to share with the community, conduct in-depth interviews to better understand and highlight strengths/assets of community spaces, and conduct follow-up surveys for evaluation. Responses from the in-depth interviews will be used to compose counterstories, which is a methodology that, “serves to expose, analyze, and challenge shock stories of racial privilege and can help to strengthen traditions of social, political, and cultural survival and resistance,” (Martinez, 2020). The proposed illustrated map will bring awareness, recognition and support to various places and businesses across the community while telling their story. Using this community map, we also plan to create a virtual community map. Because we have seen many youth attend Nurturing Roots and other justice-centered community learning spaces, the virtual community map will be developed as a way to advocate for a credit retrieval program for youth in schools. By building relationships with local schools the students attend, we hope to build an accord that allows the students volunteering to obtain a credit to count towards school, especially during school closures in light of COVID-19 in order to promote sustainable learning over time. Being able to receive course credit would encourage BIPOC youth to continue volunteering and engaging in justice-centered learning and advocacy spaces that heighten and foster their critical consciousness. With this community building initiative and credit retrieval program approach, we are promoting a view of possible selves (Yowell, 2002) that allows for career development in the environmental field, promotes academic achievement and motivation, and allows students to work towards graduation while building a relationship with UW and the broader Seattle community.

Primary Contact:
Kaleb Germinaro
kalebg@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $2,990
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The aim of this project is to better understand how frontline communities define climate resilience and identify perceived factors that support or undermine resilience. Frontline communities are communities most affected by the impacts of climate change, and are disproportionately Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and lower-income compared to state averages. Resilience related to climate change is defined by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions as “the ability to anticipate, prepare for, and respond to hazardous events, trends, or disturbances related to climate.” Better understanding community perspectives on resilience can open our understanding of potential solutions. Resilience is highly subjective, and to meaningfully capture it, it is imperative to center the perspectives of frontline communities. To fit the scope of this funding opportunity, this project will focus on Puget Sound, and findings will guide future engagement around Washington. This project will use a series of qualitative interviews with representatives of frontline communities and organizations that work with frontline communities around the Puget Sound region. From these interviews, themes will be developed to guide future indicator development and identify future pathways for research in this area. Our ultimate goal is to build on this enhanced understanding of resilience to support programming and policy development related to the Washington Clean Energy Transformation Act (CETA), that will transition the state to clean electricity by 2045.

Primary Contact:
Leah Wood
woodl7@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $2,000
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

This project utilizes the biannual UW Food Systems Seminar (NUTR 400/500) to support student learning and dialogue about food systems amidst the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism, which together amplify the need for health and food equity. This seminar will showcase researchers and organizers working at the confluence of these pandemics for positive and impactful change. Sessions will highlight challenges as well as transformation, hope, and potential for resilience and equity to root across the food system. Funding from the CSF Intersectional Sustainability Grant supports honoraria for community leaders with expertise often housed outside of academia. Such expertise is important, now more than ever, to better understand the lived experiences across communities and to amplify community-identified solutions. Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities are disproportionately impacted by both COVID-19 and exploitation throughout the food system. This funding helps center voices from beyond the university and lift up solutions to food system-related environmental and societal problems.

Primary Contact:
Dr. Yona Sipos
ysipos@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Conservation and equity are intrinsically intertwined topics that have often been treated as two separate areas of study. Science, conservation, and management not only benefit from having a diversity of stakeholder perspectives informing projects, but the effects of management and scientific policies extend more broadly than the ecosystems they impact. This seminar will highlight the importance of cross-cultural collaboration and competency in science. In this seminar series and course, we will investigate a series of research projects or conservation initiatives that have the unifying theme of 1) having a conservation-oriented objective, 2) being led by or integrally involving indigenous groups or underserved communities throughout the project, and 3) diversifying the participants in the process leading to the successful implementation of a conservation or research policy. Talks will have a scientific backbone while also highlighting the diversity of participants, the equity of these stakeholders in planning, barriers that exist to participation, and how this format of engagement led to conservation success. This seminar fits with the proposed goal of increasing communication and cultural competency among faculty, staff, and students across UW.

Primary Contact:
Staci Amburgey
sma279@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $3,000
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to nearly 14,000 confirmed cases and over 600 deaths in King County. Furthermore, people of color are dying from COVID-19 at disproportionate rates in comparison to the white population. Washington State Governor Inslee issued the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2. However, this mandate does not apply to custodians who are considered essential workers. To protect the health of the University of Washington Seattle Campus community, 259 custodial workers continue to work, cleaning and disinfecting various campus areas. The majority of custodial workers are immigrants, refugees, and people of color. Many are over 60 years of age and vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 exposure. The purpose of this project is to bring visibility to the people who take care of the UW Seattle Campus and facilitate dialogue among the UW community that focuses on the health impacts to UW custodial workers. Through continued dialogue there is an overarching goal to advance health equity.

UW custodians will be the photographers in this project and photographs will focus on the project aims:

  1. Identify custodians’ perceptions of their workplace and home or neighborhood as sources of health opportunities or barriers.
  2. Identify attainable workplace improvements that protect and support the health of custodians, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This project is currently in its recruitment stage. About 15 custodians will be recruited and divided into smaller groups to meet weekly and hold discussions about their photographs. They will choose their favorite photographs to be displayed in a public art installation and a website for wider accessibility. Recommendations and action steps for how the UW community can support custodians will be part of the installation. Evalynn is the daughter of UW custodians who have dedicated decades of their lives to cleaning UW buildings. She has been leading an appreciation effort for UW custodial workers since March by serving weekly breakfasts to each area of campus: https://facilities.uw.edu/blog/posts/2020/06/15/custodians-breakfast https://globalhealth.washington.edu/news/2020/07/23/update-mph-student-h....

Primary Contact:
Evalynn Romano
evalynn@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Power to the Pollinator Project will develop a 600 sq. ft. on-campus pollinator garden consisting of native flowering plants, evergreen shrubs, and year-round woody shelter. The diverse planting collection will ensure that native pollinators have a diverse food bank from February to October with places to overwinter and burrow. As the plants mature, long-term symbiotic relationships between invertebrates, micro-organisms, and other wildlife species will also develop. Designed to provide food and habitat space for the PNW’s threatened bumble bees, mason bees, butterflies, moths, and hummingbirds, this project will pave the way for an extended wildlife corridor consisting of low-maintenance, pesticide-free landscapes. The garden’s proximity to Odegaard Library will also provide students with a quiet, meditative space away from their studies and the opportunity to study ecological systems in a nontraditional setting. At the moment, UW lacks an ecology-focused landscape plan, and it is my goal with this pollinator project to kickstart a dialogue on the role of diverse ecology within urban spaces. By blending ecological diversity into the built environment, a pollinator garden near the heart of campus will testify to the importance of design activism, educate students and faculty about the potential relationship between cities and native ecosystems, and spark research opportunities that unite urban spaces with environmental science, biology, forestry, landscape architecture, art, and engineering.

Primary Contact:
Daniella Slowik
dslowik@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $6,000
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

UW Mailing Services’ Electric Bicycle Mail Delivery Program 1.0 has been a huge success. For the last three years, UW Mailing Services avoided using mail delivery trucks to deliver campus mail with the implementation of electric cargo bicycles. Inevitably, this CSF sponsored program has had a positive impact on both the environment and the community. In order to further expand the program, to meet customers’ increasing demand, and to expose the sustainability impact to others, UW Mailing Services plans to launch a 2.0 program. When the university shut down operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, UW Mailing Services took on the role of central receiving for the entire campus. The Mailing Services bike team quickly discovered that larger cargo boxes were needed in order to accommodate the increased package volume and still avoid using trucks for mail delivery. The new cargo boxes will increase the carriage capacity and optimize bicycle delivery. Once the new cargo boxes are implemented, the numbers of packages delivered per mile ridden will increase as well as the amount of CO2 emission avoided. Mailing Services is committed to the UW Sustainability Action Plan and hopes to carry on the mission for sustainability.

Primary Contact:
Jimmy Tan
jtan3189@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $15,000
Funding Received:
 2020-2021
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Kincaid Ravine Preliminary Master Plan and Capital Improvements Program completed by UW CEP 498 students during Winter and Spring Quarters 2020 respectively, provide the basic framework for the 3.6 acre site’s long-term environmentally sustainable capital improvements which will provide the following benefits for the campus community following it’s six-year build out:

  1. Improve Pedestrian Connectivity, with a system of trails joining existing built features on and adjacent to campus;
  2. Provide Environmental Resilience, by controlling invasive plant infestations within the ravine, improving habitat for wildlife, provide erosion control, and improve site’s hydrological functioning;
  3. Implement Flood Control Measures; by expanding the wetlands, and creating a system of sustained management measures;
  4. Improve Public Safety, to ensure cleanliness of entire ravine, increased opportunity for vigilance on-site, creation of sustained public safety conditions; and
  5. Promote Public Enjoyment, by accentuating site’s interpretive features using environmental educational signage, and a place for passive recreation.

Most importantly, this work will be conducted using the stewardship of UW students, both graduate and undergraduate, in both an employment and student capacity. Ultimately, the site will prove to be highly impactful in terms of all the improvements cited above, and provide meaningful environmental, social, recreational, and transportation upgrades to this site, the Burke-Gilman Trail, and the campus overall. The UW Seattle campus accommodates more than 47,000 total students (undergraduate & graduate), 5,800 academic staff (including faculty), and 16,000 administrative staff. This totals more than 70,000 potential users of this remarkably significant space which is the last remaining native open space on this huge campus.

CSF has been funding work on the Kincaid Ravine Restoration Project since 2010. During the past 2-1/2 years undergraduate students enrolled in CEP 498 have been working on various elements of the project and have completed the final draft of a Master Plan for the site which has been reviewed and approved by the office of the UW Campus Architect. It is expected that next steps in the implementation of the Master Plan will begin in Winter quarter 2021 dependent upon the availability of funding to support a graduate student who will be leading this work. This current request to CSF is for $9,500 which will fund two positions: (1) a graduate student who will lead other students' work; and (2) a licensed landscape architect to guide student work.

*Please also see attached Budget Amendment from 3/23/21 for details on additional awarding*

Primary Contact:
Edward D. Blum
blumedw@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $1,700
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Primary Contact:
Sairandri Sathyanarayanan
sairas@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $600
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Primary Contact:
Jen Laxague
babosj@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $2,175
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Primary Contact:
Anne Marie Gloster
agloster@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $2,500
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Primary Contact:
Jay Cunningham
jaylcham@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $3,000
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Primary Contact:
Kiana Parker
kmparker@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $2,787
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Primary Contact:
Lauren Updyke
updykl@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $2,218
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Primary Contact:
Katie Kovacich
kk57@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $3,000
Funding Received:
 2019-2020

Executive Summary

Historically, community gardens have served as a means of accessing fresh produce when prices are prohibitively high, such as during times of war, recession or, as we’re seeing, pandemic. However, in a city marked by staggering rates of displacement and homelessness, prices on natural, organic, and healthy food are consistently inhibitory regardless of the larger context. This is especially true for the over 200 University of Washington students and 1,100 young adults in Seattle struggling to obtain food daily. For this reason, we are requesting funding to support the development of, “Seeds of Freedom” (SoF), a youth-led community garden initiative aiming to reduce food insecurity through the building of an edible garden in tandem with student/community education in social justice, ecology, and holistic wellness. As a collaborative effort developed in partnership with the Doorway Project and YouthCare, our project is intentionally designed to nurture community cohesion through shared space. SoF will be located outside of the University District Youth Center (UDYC), and will serve as a site of applied learning for a blended cohort of UW students and young adults with lived experience of homelessness. SoF Learners will be compensated for their participation in the project and will work as a cohort to grow and share food while building a vibrant social and natural ecosystem that encourages every individual’s potential for growth and renewal. By locating this garden off campus, in a space that offers resources to youth experiencing homelessness, we are uniquely positioning ourselves to provide opportunity for community engagement and support experiential learning. UDYC aims to affirm and empower black and brown young adults (ages 18-24) through Healing Focused Engagement that centers on participants’ holistic selves and wellbeing. Seeds of Freedom will support this mission through programming that goes beyond physical wellbeing to build social capital for clients. This mutually beneficial collaboration between the university and the surrounding neighborhood will foster connectedness, belonging, and community that transcends campus boundaries. As society acclimates to mandates on social distancing, we have taken those guidelines into consideration. The 600 sq ft plot provides space for up to 2-3 gardeners to safely distance while completing tasks. Although the space will be open to the greater community to enjoy and socially interact all years, specific hours will be reserved for SoF Learners from January through June 2021. Outside of their time gardening, a set cohort SoF Learners will engage in six-months of co-curricular education around food sovereignty, economic justice, and community healing. This curriculum will be informed by the pedagogy of Paolo Freire, emphasizing consciousness raising, sustainability, and social justice. Depending on the state of affairs, the education component will be facilitated either at UDYC or virtually via Zoom. As a site of UW/Community interaction, student-learners will take away experiences in organic agriculture, community building, social enterprise, and a deeper understanding of how we can address homelessness. Evaluating Success Comprehensive process evaluation will be utilized to understand the benefit of the garden and associated educational programming. Specifically, we will evaluate the prevalence of community awareness and engagement, barriers to participation, food security and personal characteristics such as SoF Learner satisfaction and staff perspectives of garden location. Semistructured interviews will be conducted, after which identified gaps will be addressed through programming recommendations and changes. As video has quickly become the medium through which most people consume content, SoF will work in partnership with UDYC creative engagement programming to create a visual representation of impact. This video will be shared with the larger community including all donors, and partners. Sustainable Development Goals At its most basic level sustainability is disruptive, it is a constant work in progress. It isn’t just about using less; it is about creating more. More compassion, more connection, more opportunity to live in a world where shared spaces matter. Seeds of Freedom believes that gardens don’t simply equate to food. They equate to an improved relationship to the natural environment, ourselves, and others. They equate to a sense of power over a part of our lives that we can design for ourselves. They equate to a sense of purpose and a site of resistance to isolation and rejection. Gardens equate to freedom. The Freedom to Survive. The implementation of SoF directly contributes to the achievement of Goal 3 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG): “Health and Wellbeing” by strengthening local food sources and improving access to healthy foods and nutrients. In this way we are addressing hunger in vulnerable communities (SDG 2, Zero Hunger). Sustainable literacy and professional skills will be gained directly through the activities involved in designing, implementing, and maintaining the garden. Additionally, SoF Learners will be directly compensated for their work while developing transferable skills for future employment (SDG 8, Decent Work and Economic Growth). The Freedom to Thrive. Utilizing the “Plant, Cook, Organize!” curricula, developed and made available by Planting Justice in Oakland, SoF will cultivate an environment of lifelong learning opportunities for each cohort (SDG 4, Quality Education). The curricula will include information on: food systems, permaculture design, companion planting, healing justice, land and farmworker rights, integrated pest management, cover cropping, cooking, and the historical timeline of the food justice movement. The Freedom to Challenge. Eating organic, locally grown vegetables and fruit will assist youth and young adults in raising consciousness of the interrelationships between a healthy body and a healthy environment (SDG 12, Responsible Consumption and Production). It is our hope that through direct engagement around economic inequality and food access we will empower young adults to address the structural inequities that have become embedded in the industrialized food system (SDG 13, Climate Action) and to advocate for a more sustainable and equitable Seattle (SDG 11, Sustainable Cities and Communities)

Primary Contact:
Courtney Jackson
jackscou@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $800
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

The ASUW Bike Shop is a student run, full repair bicycle resource for UW students, staff and faculty. Through its affordable drop-off services, do-it-yourself repair, and maintenance classes, the shop seeks to make biking accessible for the UW community as a sustainable alternative to other modes of transportation. The Bike Shop continuously looks to support the campus cycling community’s commitment to climate response. Every year the Bike Shop generates between 150 to 250 pounds of used tube waste, as recycling centers do not accept bike tubes. Most bike tubes are made from butyl rubber, a synthetic rubber that is petroleum based. Upcycling rubber can help save energy and is a small action to reduce the carbon footprint of bikes. Specifically, by upcycling tubes to Alchemy Goods manufacturing facility in Seattle, an apparel company that makes accessories from upcycled tubes, the Bike Shop will divert waste created during its operations. With the support of the Campus Sustainability Fund, the Bike Shop will partner with UW Electric Bike Mailing Services to drop off its used bike tubes at UPS. The Bike Shop will continue to accept used bike tubes from the UW community for upcycling purposes. If you see the Bike Shop out at an event with the mobile maintenance trailer, we will happily accept your used tubes there or at the shop!

asuwbikeshop (facebook & instagram) ; http://bike.asuw.org/

Primary Contact:
Lisa Jensen
asuwbkbm@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $950
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Working with the Office of Student Veterans, Living Art, is exploring the therapeutic benefits of artwork being turned into living art (living walls). There are many healing and therapeutic benefits from living walls, including increased productivity and relaxation and we aim to improve spaces associated with student veterans. We hope to bring visual therapeutic benefits, beauty, and overall enjoyment to students in the HUB, particularly students in the study areas. We are working to create a simple, self-sustaining, but new type of living wall that is in a pattern of a historic painting, but with plants. Broadly speaking we hope to enhance the lives of students in community spaces. (These living art pieces could be applied to many spaces around campus that need a positive uplift and therapeutic enhancement.)

Primary Contact:
Janie Bube
bubej@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $67,500
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The goal of this project is to obtain a pulp molding machine capable of making sustainable pots to replace the plastic ones currently being used in the UW nursery. The result will be a decrease in plastic waste being generated, as well as less water and chemicals being consumed to clean the pots. The new pots will also utilize non-woody materials such as wheat straw, brewers spent grain, and even ivy collected from across campus. This project also provides great opportunity for the future, as the pulp molding machine can create a variety of other products out of pulp, with the purchase of more molds.

Primary Contact:
Ryan Setera
ryansetera@gmail.com
Amount Awarded:
 $5,399
Funding Received:
 2019-2020

Executive Summary

With UW air travel nearly eliminated to reduce the spread of COVID-19, the UW community is looking to rethink our options. We want to take this opportunity to examine the unique benefits of travel to UW students, faculty, and staff  in the context of the high cost of emissions from travel - especially as technological solutions for remote collaboration and learning are being rapidly improved and culturally normalized.

Primary Contact:
Becca Neumann
rbneum@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $20,481
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

With this project, we are proposing a highly collaborative approach to work directly with the Burke Museum and their representatives to engage in the interpretive planning practices and approaches already being developed for the recently installed, on-site Camas Meadow by museum staff and partners. Through this process we anticipate learning a tremendous amount regarding the historical and contemporary importance of this habitat type and source of nourishment for the Indigenous tribes of the Coast Salish region and all of Washington State. As part of this collaboration we propose to develop and conduct a 3-year plan monitoring plan to assess the establishment and growth of the camas meadow. The purpose of this monitoring is to develop a strategic, long-term management plan that is culturally engaged, built on collaboration and conversation and interpreted through perspectives that are grounded in local traditional knowledge as much as scientific approaches to botany and environmental understanding. Our intention with this work is to assist other organizations and communities seeking to reestablish this habitat type in Washington State and the broader Northwest region while, more locally working closely with UW Grounds to mitigate increased costs for maintenance while ensuring the ecological viability and sustainability of the project.  It is our intention to support educational goals through the committed engagement of our primary collaborators including students, a faculty member (Landscape Architecture), the Burke museum, UW Grounds, and GGN (landscape architecture firm). We will also seek to engage other organizations and entities both within the University system, such as wǝɫǝbʔaltxw (Intellectual House) and Urban@UW as well as outside, Oxbow Native Plant Nursery, the company which propagated, nourished, and donated the plants on site. Our intentions through this broad collaborative approach are to develop a framework and to deliver a management plan that synthesizes multiple design and management strategies to help further the conversation regarding the importance of this habitat type and this specific project to our collective communities.  In a recent survey, it was estimated that there was historically more than 5,000 acres of prairie habitat of what is today King County alone and that this habitat type was prevalent through much of the region and across the Cascade range. Though not a dominant ecosystem type within the region the prairies offered critical habitat for many plant, insect and animal species, while being extremely important for indigenous communities as a primary source nourishment and a valuable item for trade. Today, very little of the historical extent of prairies in the region remains, with only a few scattered remnant patches of any significance in size and the plant communities of both have been heavily impacted by the encroachment of invasive grass species. The landscape design for the Burke Museum included eighty thousand native plants. Most of these plants were propagated by locally collected seed. For example, much of the camas seed was collected on a small island in the San Juans and the bulbs were nurtured for up to four years in a nursery prior to planting. The site is extremely important to the Burke Museum and the communities such as the Native American Advisory Board which provides guidance and insight to their practices and approaches to interpretation. From this grounding in collaboration and conversation we seek to understand the establishment and growth of the plants community in the project will be assessed against varying management strategies that may include, but not be limited to hand weeding, mowing, and potentially controlled burning. The results of the monitoring research will be compiled into a document that again is grounded in the multiple understandings of the importance of camas and this critical habitat type to the people of this region and Washington State, while ideally also providing a set of maintenance and management practices that will inform UW Grounds, and other land management and design teams interested in understanding how to establish and nourish this rare habitat type. The proposal for three years includes the seasonal employment of five students, the collaborative development of this document, and assistance in supporting the interpretive approaches and opportunities determined by the Burke Museum.

Primary Contact:
Jocine Velasco
joeyr0kt@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $22,091
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The UW Food Pantry is a flagship project of the Any Hungry Husky Initiative, which works to address food insecurity on the University of Washington-Seattle Campus. The Food Pantry provides foodstuffs such as canned goods, grains, fresh produce, and ready-to-eat meals free of charge to any Husky Card-holding student, staff member, or faculty member. The Food Pantry is currently undergoing a phase of rapid growth: in the last 24 months, total visits have increased over 500% from 748 visits in the 2017-18 academic year to 3,845 in the first two quarters of the 2019-20 year. This improvement is significant, but there is still a great deal of unmet need: a 2018 study conducted by UW faculty members suggested that approximately 20% of students had experienced food insecurity in the 12 months preceding the study. Shelf-stable food available to Pantry users is primarily sourced from bulk purchases funded by donated funds, as well as corporate and private donations. However, the Food Pantry is presently expanding efforts to ‘glean’ recently-expired or unneeded produce and ready-to-eat meals from on-campus locations including the dining halls, the UW Farm, the District Market, and the Nook. By rescuing food that would otherwise be disposed of, the Food Pantry is able to feed community members in need while diverting food from the waste system. Food sent to landfill and compost, produces methane as a by-product and contributes to climate change. In 2018, the UW estimated that its operations resulted in the compost of 1.7 million pounds and the landfill of 1.3 million pounds of food, while only about 15,000 pounds were rescued or donated. Although not all of this food is suitable for gleaning (e.g. health codes generally prohibit the donation of hot food tray leftovers) the sheer scale of these numbers make it clear that the gleaning program has a great deal of room for expansion. In order to grow the Food Pantry’s gleaning initiative, funding for two key resources must be secured: the Pantry requires both an expanded capacity for cold food storage and the continuation of a currently-existing staff position to implement and nurture the gleaning program. Presently, the Pantry’s ability to glean food is limited by the amount of cold storage space available; the 18 cubic feet of storage our current fridge provides is no longer sufficient to store all the refrigerable goods we glean, nor does it hold enough food to provide all of our visitors with fresh produce and meals on a daily basis. A new refrigerator would allow us to store more fresh food for longer periods of time, improving the Pantry’s ability to provide visitors with nutrient-dense food while allowing us to divert a greater amount of food from landfill/compost destinations to individuals who need it. The University of Washington Food Pantry therefore requests $35,000 of funding from the Campus Sustainability Fund for the purpose of funding the continuation of a gleaning coordinator position as well as the purchase and installation of new refrigeration. The funding of these two key resources will help prevent thousands of pounds of food from going to waste annually while providing Huskies with safe and enjoyable sources of nutrition.

Follow us at @uwfoodpantry!

Primary Contact:
Sean Ferris
ferris3@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $8,910
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Advancements in manufacturing technologies have allowed 3D printers to literally become household items, making them relatively inexpensive rapid prototyping devices for engineering, research, and teaching purposes. This has made them incredibly common on UW’s campus, as they can be found in many classrooms, engineering spaces, and laboratories across disciplines. This invaluable resource has come with a significant environmental drawback as a large amount of the material (known as filament) used to create 3D prints is wasted in the process of creating a final print. Given the ubiquity of 3D printers on campus and the high amount of waste generated, this project seeks to create a small space where any office, classroom, or lab on campus can bring their excess/waste filament to be ground down, melted, and respooled into usable filament for future projects. Recycling the material on campus would reduce the amount of material that ended up in landfills and would also reduce the amount of new product that needed to be ordered.

Primary Contact:
Lydia Smith
lydias3@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $962
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

In-line with our mission to increase UW community awareness of local and national food systems topics and issues, we are planning a free documentary screening for spring quarter at the Samuel E. Kelly Ethnic Cultural Center Theatre. We will be showing the documentary, Dolores, which is about Dolores Huerta, a civil rights activist and the co-founder, along with Cesar Chavez, of the National Farmworkers Association (now United Farm Workers). By sharing this documentary with the UW community, we hope to raise awareness of our national food system’s dependence on the labor of farm workers, and the importance of fighting for farm workers’ rights. We also hope to highlight women who have been critical in pushing the farm workers’ rights movement forward, yet who often are left out of mainstream history. In addition, Carlos Marentes, from Seattle-based El Comité, will be speaking about the the farm workers' movement in Western Washington in a Q&A after the film.

Primary Contact:
Kelly Wolffe
kwolffe@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $65,000
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The electrochromic glazing system will contribute to UW campus sustainability by maximizing energy performance, and improving the classroom experience while showcasing a building envelope technology that sets new sustainability standards on campus. It is necessary for University of Washington to invest in new building technologies that can reduce building energy consumption while at the same time improving the student experience and supporting the institutional mission of the University. Currently, the University is in the planning and design process for a new Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB) located on NE Pacific St. on the South end of campus, which will serve students, faculty and staff for generations.

Primary Contact:
Connor Beck
cb69@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $600
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Due to their overarching, multigenerational nature, the ongoing climate, environmental, and consequential social crises must inform decisions made in every field and profession. Although the current and impending destabilization resulting from these crises call for unified action, the global response has been disappointing at best. Even in a university famed for innovation and progress our actions have been inexcusably meager. The abundance and variety of RSOs focused on social and environmental sustainability at the UW demonstrate a significant interest within the campus community to be active and engaged in the efforts to address our climate crisis on the local, national, and even international level. Unfortunately, these efforts are fragmented across various departments and disciplines which has stunted meaningful action.

Furthermore, groups which are not dedicated specifically to these fields risk being unaware of the important work being done in sustainability on campus. An even larger concern is that these groups lack the resources and encouragement to expand the ongoing sustainability efforts to include their own work and projects. Due to these circumstances, opportunities for collaboration are hindered due to lack of communication, awareness, and empowerment. Finally, although the administration has provided support for sustainability efforts through organizations such as the Office of Sustainability or the Campus Sustainability Fund, it has not yet taken action on the scale that it needs to.

The Administration's current aim to release a draft of a comprehensive Sustainability Plan on Earth Day 2020 has provided a critical opportunity to push the University’s commitment to sustainable practices farther than ever before. However, as matters currently stand, student voices are diluted and the committee’s outreach efforts are insufficient. In order to effectively engage with the administration at this critical time it is apparent that students must unify to advance our common goals.

Aiming to facilitate a successful and meaningful collaboration amongst all UW students we, the Sustainability Curriculum Coalition, will host a Student Sustainability Forum. This event will be designed to unite and empower the diverse University community by creating a space for students from across campus to partake in discussion and deliberation surrounding issues they would wish to see addressed in the upcoming UW Sustainability Plan.

This forum will promote actions already being led by student groups on campus as well as facilitate discussion over further actions which could be pursued. The format of the discussion groups which the forum will be broken into is designed with the goal of formulating a cohesive set of far-reaching goals and demands, which will be recommended for integration into the upcoming UW Sustainability Plan.

Primary Contact:
Anya Gavrylko
annagavv@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $20,500
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The African continent is home to the largest youth population in the world. With the increased access to information and new platforms to mobilize, youth across the continent are fighting to address corruption and create ways to contribute to the growth of their specific country. This revolution is one that cannot be ignored; the African continent has abundant resources and limitless potential that generally goes unacknowledged and continues to be exploited by outside actors. Africa’s youth across the diaspora are eager to help their nations achieve the long-overdue potential that experts have been predicting for decades. Here in Washington, we’ve decided to join the revolution by supplementing the educational pursuits of young professionals and cultivating them to unlock the future of Africa, now.

Primary Contact:
Michelle Mvundura
chiymm@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $150,000
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Project Indoor Farm (Project IF) is an organization run by students and community members aiming to create a more sustainable campus food system through urban indoor farming. 

We envision three phases of operation for Project IF:

Phase I: Feasibility study (completed in December 2019)

Phase II: Full operation on the University of Washington campus (2020 and on)

Phase III: Transfer the successful experience to other suitable organizations (2022 and on)

In the proposed Phase II operation, Project IF’s goal is to grow leafy greens and herbs for the University of Washington Housing and Food Services – providing locally sourced, sustainably grown produce to dining halls, cafes, and restaurants on campus. Project IF addresses sustainability by helping to eliminate transportation, packaging, and other resources traditionally used when growing and distributing food. Equally important, this project will create a space for students to apply their knowledge and passion from the classroom to our farm directly impacting sustainable urban agriculture. Running day-to-day operations and improving the farm through design projects and research will provide a unique learning opportunity with real world application. Project IF fills the gap of giving a hands-on experience to students within indoor urban agriculture, a rapidly expanding industry that will play an increasingly relevant role in helping feed the world.

Primary Contact:
Kurt Kung
ckung@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $14,500
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The UW Farm will use this grant to purchase innovative new tools that will allow us to build soil health and sequester carbon in the soil for the long-term. Scientists and farmers have demonstrated that the long-term effects of agricultural tillage, or soil disturbance, can be devastating for soils. We will use these tools to reduce the amount of tillage that we do on the UW Farm, improve our efficiency, and create healthy, sustainable, production systems.

@uwfarm - instagram;

UW Farm - facebook

Primary Contact:
Adam Houston
adambh@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $35,000
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Home to the largest Douglas-fir on campus and an imperiled heron rookery, Heron Haven has the profound potential to become a thriving, biologically-rich greenspace that students, faculty, and staff can engage with. If ‘empty’ spaces on the UW campus were looked at through the lens of an ecologist, many would be identified as ecologically unhealthy and in need of remediation. Heron Haven is currently one of these unhealthy spaces. Though the site beautifully frames a view of Mt. Rainier and the Cascades with its towering stand of mixed conifers, it’s ecology is threatened by our changing climate and many common invasive species. Situated immediately south of Drumheller Fountain is a wedge of greenspace lovingly dubbed Heron Haven, so named because of the heron rookery that exists in its upper canopy. Despite being central to campus and situated immediately in the vicinity of UW’s environmentally-focused departments, Heron Haven hopelessly exists without a keeper. It is densely vegetated, but with various monocultures of invasive weeds, including the smothering groundcover English Ivy. Cherry laurel, Himalayan blackberry, English hawthorn, and Italian arum have also successfully outcompeted native species, suppressing much needed plant diversity. A lack of plant diversity means there is also a lack of diversity in all other organisms that inhabit this space, from insects, to mammals, to bacteria. The low diversity of flora and fauna contributes to poor environmental resiliency, especially in the face of imminent climate change. This project aims to re-establish native flora that can withstand the aforementioned stresses of climate change while also maintaining and restoring populations of native fauna. I propose restoring the site by removing invasive plants, establishing native plantings, and adding human elements, such as paths, seating areas, and interpretive signage. Doing this would turn Heron Haven into an activated, welcoming space that invites students to interact with the environment around them rather than idly passing by. Through close collaboration with the UW chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration, UW Grounds Management, the Department of Landscape Architecture, the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences, and many individual volunteers, Heron Haven will become a space that embodies the natural character of our unique Cascadia ecoregion, connecting students to the unique landscape in our own backyard.

Primary Contact:
Nikoli Stevens
nikoli99@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

This formal celebration and banquet centers excellence within the black communities at the University of Washington and in the greater Seattle area. More importantly however, the Legacy Soiree is an essential effort in creating a scholarship for underrepresented students.  

Thanks to past fundraising efforts we have reached our goal for our scholarship endowment, and this year we will be awarding two $1000 scholarship to two deserving students. This is a great milestone and marks how far the Black Student Union has come. But our work isn’t over! We want to expand this scholarship to more students and we need your support. 

We are excited to announce our keynote speaker, former mayoral candidate, Nikkita Oliver. As well, the night will feature the nationally recognized Garfield High School Jazz Band, performances, honoraria, catered dinner and more. We will also be continuing our tradition of recognizing ten exemplary high school students, with the hopes of inspiring them to attend the University of Washington. 

Primary Contact:
Safiya Bansfield
safiyabansfield@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $92,568
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

In the first phase of BIOSWALE UW, the student-led team will support and engage with the piloting of a regional green stormwater treatment approach being conducted through the design and construction of the San Juan Basin Green Stormwater Infrastructure Regional Treatment Facility (SJB-GSI) in conjunction with the new Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB) in south campus. Through CSF funding, BIOSWALE UW will contribute a portion of the material costs of the SJB GSI. In parallel, student and faculty research connecting academia and practice will provide research-informed recommendations to design decision makers and evaluate the economic and environmental impacts of the SJB-GSI to assess the potentials and best practices for implementing this regional GSI approach within future sustainable development efforts on campus. Research in the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering (CEE) will perform life cycle environmental and economic analysis (LCA and LCCA) of the SJB GSI and also will test and assess the viability of biochar as a contaminant-removing amendment to bioretention media to improve stormwater quality and efficacy of treatment. Pilot scale analysis and testing with biochar will inform recommendations to the design team. Research in the Landscape Architecture Department will contribute to planting recommendations and assessment and engage with planting design where appropriate. Integrating with this real world GSI project at opportune field based and classroom interfaces will provide students with unique opportunities to gain industry exposure and learning around professional practices and GSI implementation. The GSI concept and project will be integrated within the educational program of several CEE and L.Arch classes. Among these activities, the professional design partners will be invited to be guest speakers in these classes. This project is also an opportunity to invite an array of communities to interact with the site: student sustainability groups, local naturalists, people who eat lunch nearby, etc. The project’s public visibility and proximity to the water make it an ideal location for educating the public about green stormwater infrastructure. Working with UW facilities, students will better understand the process of sustainable development, especially on campus. The research and design piloted in the flume will act as a foundation for additional regional scale stormwater projects that can be implemented at other locations or campuses. Lessons learned can be used to identify other locations on campus that can support the mission of sustainable stormwater management in future development. Students can also play a role in identifying and ideating for adjacent landscape projects that would benefit the overall system through ecological well-being and resilience. Professional Project Integration: The San Juan Basin Green Stormwater Infrastructure Facility (SJB GSI) will be constructed in concert with the new Health Sciences Education Building (HSEB) and serve a basin of ~34 acres which consists both of University-owned land and City of Seattle right-of-way, discharging to a UW-owned storm outfall to Portage Bay. Runoff from the existing basin is currently untreated. Creating a regional stormwater treatment facility will proactively preclude the need for site-by-site required stormwater treatment with any campus development in this part of campus by creating one regional facility. Just upstream of the existing outfall; a flow-splitter will be installed, diverting flow to an abandoned concrete flume historically used in conjunction with the teaching lab for civil engineering classes. Bioretention soil, plants, and necessary infrastructure will be installed within that flume. The flume can also serve as a living laboratory, allowing classes to monitor and study stormwater treatment in situ.

Primary Contact:
Erin Horn
ekh26@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Natya UW is the University of Washington’s premier Indian Classical Dance team that strives to showcase the beautiful art form to a wide range of audiences. As members of the Indian Classical Dance circuit, we have opportunities every year to compete against Indian Classical Dance teams from other universities around the country. At these competitions, each team showcases a dance that communicates a story and/or overall theme about humanity.

This year, Natya UW has chosen to create a dance choreography based on the story “Silapathikaram”. Silapathikaram is an ancient and well known story in India. It tells of a woman, named Kannagi, who loses her husband when he is ordered to be killed by the king of the city in which the story takes place. Kannagi’s husband's death is a result of a careless and hasty mistake by the king. When she hears about his sudden death that occurred for no valid reason, she decides the only way to obtain justice is to burn down the city.

Natya UW has chosen its costumes to reflect Kannagi’s anger in this particular scene, which is the climax of the story. Her anger is represented as a fire and ashes that ruthlessly destroy an entire city. Costumes play a very large role in dance productions. They reflect the production’s themes, setting and characters. We plan to get costumes with designs and colors that will enhance Kannagi’s anger portrayed in our choreography. These costumes will make a bold statement with bright fire-like colors such as red and orange and symbolize the simultaneous destruction of the city with black. With great costumes, our performance with have an added level of vibrancy and communicate the story to our audiences much more effectively.

We will be competing in February and March of 2020, and potentially April 2020 as well if we make it to the national competition! Thank you once again for helping us make our cultural mark on the community and we will be sure to update you throughout our journey!

Primary Contact:
Sowmya Magham
sowmyamagham@gmail.com
Amount Awarded:
 $1,500
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

Our goal is to develop online content for the UW First Year Programs website that shares information about self-compassionate parenting in the transition to college. Content will be focused on parenting skills supportive of self-compassionate responses to challenges, grounded in the three core components of self-compassion: mindfulness, connection to a common humanity, and self-kindness. Specifically, we seek to address the following two aims:

Aim 1. Material development. In partnership with University of Washington students and parents, we will develop a single session group behavioral intervention for parents of entering undergraduate students that addresses parenting behaviors supportive of student self-compassion in the transition to college.

Aim 2. Pilot evaluation. Conduct a pilot effectiveness-implementation evaluation of the materials. Mixed methods data collection will be employed, with all parents completing pre- and post-session surveys, and a subset of parents participating in qualitative interviews about their experience. Data will inform subsequent adaptations and broader dissemination and evaluation. We will use this data to determine whether adaptation to different formats (e.g., online delivery for parents unable to attend the in-person Parent Orientation) is appropriate.

Primary Contact:
LeAnne Jones Wiles
uwcsf@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $1,100
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The UW Center for Child and Family Well-Being (CCFW) has invited David Treleaven to facilitate a one-day workshop on trauma-informed mindfulness practices. David is a writer and educator working at the intersection of mindfulness and trauma who has worked with universities including University of California Los Angeles, Brown University, University of Massachusetts, and University of California San Diego. Through workshops, keynotes, podcasts, and online education, David focuses on offering mindfulness providers with the knowledge and tools they require to meet the needs of those struggling with trauma. His work comes from research based on making mindfulness safe and effective for people who haveexperienced trauma, as well as his own lived experience. This training is timely to the University of Washington as the university has seen an increase in student demand for mental health service provision and access to care. From Fall 2017 and Fall 2018, the Counseling Center saw a 70% increase in the number of students seeking a crisis counselor.

Primary Contact:
Megan Kennedy
meganken@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $1,450
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

Our project aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals of good health and well-being, quality education, reduced inequalities, and peace, justice, and strong institutions. Mental health is important and is challenging to prioritize when in school, as other responsibilities seem to take precedence. We want to share these stories to uplift students and let them know that they are not alone when they experience challenges or setbacks that impact their education. We want to help students spread positivity, understanding, community, and most importantly, support. In addition, all students are deserving of a quality education and a big part of learning how to cultivate quality for students is to hear from them. Stories are data, and they are key to piecing together the whole picture of how students of color navigate the University of Washington. This can in turn help the University see where and how there is room for improvement. Improvement can then lead to reduced inequalities.

The main focus of this project is to highlight these experiences so we can ultimately reduce inequalities and continue the work of making the University of Washington a more inclusive and diverse place. Inclusion takes time, commitment, and most importantly learning. Learning how students of color experience the University of Washington on a daily basis while uncovering the obstacles and/or disenfranchisement they may face can be a call to action for the University to do something different in their approach to reducing inequities that persist. These priorities each align with the development goal of peace, justice, and strong institutions. In order to create a peaceful learning environment free of disenfranchisement, we first need to acknowledge the ways in which it persist and how that has impacted students of color. This project will share that information so that we can positively impact social justice at the University of Washington and help cultivate a strong commitment to racial justice and equity. This project seeks to assist in community building while also sharing this data with the university to help inform practices around inclusion and truly build an equitable culture that does not perpetuate marginalization.

Primary Contact:
Erica Mullett
emall@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $750
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

The proposed method to address this question is to create a heat density map highlighting where people identify as a healing space for them on campus. I want to administer a mapping survey where students, faculty and staff are able to identify places on campus where they seek refuge during the work/school day, before and after their time spent here. This type of survey data can then be aggregated to create a specific map. I will also aim to ask questions for how people are using the space itself. This will give UW facilities some indication around what's being done in a particular space, the frequency of use and why it’s significant to certain people. This survey could also be administered over the course of an academic school year, or seasonal cycle, to identify where individuals seek refuge during particular seasons. If students, faculty and staff indicate being inside for a large portion of winter, we could make the move to combat seasonal depression by improving lighting, life in a space and the feeling of an indoor space to be more healing as indicated by biophilic design philosophy.

Primary Contact:
Kaleb Germinaro
uwcsf@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $2,390
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

The project will bring people together at an event where it’s safe to share opinions, generate ideas to improve the campus culture, and learn new concepts. Since the existence of disability is a normal part of the human experience, and most of us will be impacted by disability in our lifetime (in ourselves, our family, our friends and colleagues) the project seeks to embrace both the common humanity and diversity around us. The events, knowledge base article, and supported replications will further campus understanding of disability identity and that diversity includes disability.

Primary Contact:
Scott Bellman
swb3@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $2,000
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

This project aims to provide a safe healing space as well as a space to strengthen community for Queer and Trans people of color (QTPOC) through a 2 night 3 day camping trip in the North Cascades National Park. Queer and trans people of color have been historically excluded from spaces such as the outdoors and through this project we aim to connect the QTPOC community with the outdoors. Many studies have shown the incredibly positive emotional and physical effects that being outdoors has—especially in places like the North Cascades— on someone’s health and wellbeing. Access to the outdoors is incredibly exclusive and only easily accessible by certain groups such as wealthy white families and particularly white cis men. Within the Queer community we face oppressive structures day to day and often that is physically and emotionally exhausting. The idea of chosen family with the Queer community, especially the QTPOC community is incredibly important and for many the QTPOC community is their chosen family. Being outdoors and being able to step back from our daily lives can be incredibly grounding. We will engage in community building and healing activities such as day hikes, reflective journaling, edible native plant lessons, and other naturalist activities. The aim of this project is to provide a place where members of the UW QTPOC community can come together, heal together, and build community with each other. Overall this trip is meant to be grounding and reflective and ultimately helps in connecting members of the QTPOC community to the outdoors

Primary Contact:
Reb Zhou
rz33@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $750
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

Capillaries works within the genre of narrative medicine, a movement which invites healthcare providers and patients to reflect on their experiences using writing and art and to develop appreciation for the inherent humanity in all people. We are expanding awareness of and participation in narrative medicine at UW, encouraging undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff –from all departments, not just in medicine –to share their stories with us. Since February 2018, we have worked towards reducing the stigma against discussing mental health, shame, disordered eating, suicide, sexual assault, and our most vulnerable and often silenced experiences. We have also sought to uplift the voices of populations marginalized by our fractured healthcare system by collaborating with the Center for Health Sciences Interprofessional Education, Research, and Practice (CHSIE), the UW School of Medicine’s Narrative Medicine Interest Group, and the Seattle-King County Clinic. Thus far, we have produced four quarterly publications, each with more pieces submitted than the last. This increase in submissions indicates the need for a permanently available space to engage with narratives of diverse healing processes. We look forward to serving as this much needed space in the 2019-2020 academic year. We will be gathering stories for Autumn 2019, Winter 2020, and Spring 2020 publications and will share these narratives with the greater community through an updated website, print copies of the journal, and at our quarterly open-mic events.

Primary Contact:
Alice Ranjan
ranjaa@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,675
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

This project will utilize low-cost and open-source technologies such as the Raspberry Pi single-board computer and near-field communication to create a modular interactive exhibit for use by oral history projects. Inspired by other community-based oral history kiosks, this project will expand on their work to create a ready-to-install software package with accompanying modular kiosk designs so that any oral history or public history organization can create an interactive exhibit that features their work with very little monetary investment.

The kiosk will be designed with equity in mind, from wheelchair accessibility and transcripts, to braille and sensory considerations. Its modular design would allow for a degree of mobility to assist with outreach at libraries, schools or conferences. As part of our prioritization of accessibility, we will aim to lower the technical knowledge requirements necessary to reproduce and maintain this model, creating a software package that is not only easy to access, but easy to use. The digital package will be made freely available online, including the core Raspberry Pi operating system image, plans for a kiosk and a manual.

This will be the first phase of a larger project planned at the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, exploring new ways to share narratives surrounding the Hanford Nuclear Development Site and peoples affected by plutonium processing, including radiation exposure during production, storage, and purposeful releases into the atmosphere. For decades, communities across Washington and worldwide have been affected by the radioactive materials processed at Hanford. From the downwind farmers, Indigenous tribes of Eastern Washington and Hanford Site workers, to those affected by bombs containing plutonium refined at Hanford that were dropped in the Marshall Islands and Japan, the stories of peoples affected by radiation provide valuable lessons about ethical science, environmental conservation, and public health crises. Creating new venues to amplify these voices can help promote healing and understanding, as well as the missions and educational goals of the Burke Museum and the University of Washington.

Primary Contact:
Dillon Connelly
dnc383@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $750
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

The project is going to be dope. Being able to better understand how folks at UW use space, and especially what elements and factors within a space draw them to use a particular space can tell us a lot about the ways in which UW can strive to be more healing. Through research we know and understand how valuable nature and place are, and we don't know what is important to the people using UW's campus quite yet.

Primary Contact:
Kaleb Germinaro
kalebg@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $3,000
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

UW-Seattle’s Expository Writing Program (EWP) helps prepare over 5000 students each year with critical literacy, research, writing, and communication capacities that are essential for successful participation across the academy and in public life. Our program seeks to help students engage in writing as a means of social action; develop ethical communication practices; and understand and be responsible for the consequences of language use for diverse communities. Building on our program’s longstanding history of engaging undergraduate students in public and community-based writing courses, we will develop and pilot courses that engage the City of Seattle’s Race & Social Justice and Equity & Environment Initiatives. These public writing courses will ground conversations on urban equity and environmental sustainability within collaborative writing and research projects, some of which will be co-designed with local organizations working to address various interrelated issues, such as housing affordability, environmental justice, education, food security, and transportation in Seattle. Developing the creative and critical problem-solving capacities required to respond to such public problems calls for tremendous resilience and emotional strength, as well as interdisciplinary academic knowledges and other wisdoms. Our pilot coursework will be designed to help support such capacities. Our team also plans to offer a workshop for the UW teaching community on our collaboration.

Primary Contact:
Candice Rai
crai@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $3,000
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

This collaborative project is built on a longstanding partnership between UW’s Pipeline Project and Neah Bay Elementary School and has been developed to address a community-identified need. The result is an exciting project that will focuses on encouraging Neah Bay students to envision their futures. The goal will be to not only have Native students see themselves pursuing higher education, but learning, as early as fifth grade, of career paths that could ensure their being able to live and thrive in Neah Bay after graduation. The 2019-2020 UW Team is made up of predominately First Nation students who will be leading this project.

Primary Contact:
Christine Stickler
castick@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $3,000
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

The RepairCycle is a mobile, on-the-spot garment mending service and experience that brings the UW (and Seattle) community together around the universal aspect of clothing—offering a functional service while creating connection and dialogue through a shared activity. By empowering creative and easy-to-learn mending skills, we are working to transform our local community’s relationship with clothing. Ultimately, we believe that garment repair is not just a viable option, but should a delightfully designed experience.

Circular Textiles: There is no straightforward way to recycle textiles. The result is one garbage truck of textiles wasted every second, or 92 million tons of solid waste dumped into landfills every year. Disrupting this wasteful cycle and a disposable mindset means taking a long, hard look at the psychology of fashion. Simply put, we need to invest in services and skills that empower us to wear and enjoy the clothing we already own for longer. Which inevitably means, catalyzing a culture of garment repair.

Transforming Trailer: The RepairCycle bicycle trailer is the foundation for service and events. The cart’s interior is a simple box with a sturdy floor that can fit a variety of configured elements. The trailer’s top unfolds to provide ample, collaborative mending and learning space. The hinged cabinet on the back of the of the trailer detaches, offering room to display educational and event materials, as well as easy-to-access materials storage.

Upcoming Events: Generous support from the UW Resilience Lab Seed Fund will sponsor our 2019-2020 RepairCycle tour and brand. The team will host repair services & creative mending workshops at events across all three UW campuses, the 2019 Seattle Design Festival, and King County sustainability events.

Primary Contact:
Coreen Callister
coreencallister@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $2,999
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

This initiative brings together a group of College of Built Environment (CBE) faculty to explore the relationships and synergies of three themes that inform our theory and practice—resilience and well-being; systems thinking; and biophilic design—as a potent means by which to enrich CBE faculty, pedagogy, and students in not only what our students need to know, but how their learning process reflects these interrelated concepts towards greater compassion. Building from insights gained through our course pilot this Spring, and as part of the Well Being for Life and Learning (WB4L&L) faculty community of practice, we look forward to engaging interested CBE faculty in collaboratively developing, applying, and reflecting on approaches.

We emailed all CBE faculty an invitation to participate and held an information meeting about the project. Interested faculty are responding to a Catalyst survey, and we hope to draw faculty from across the College’s five departments. This group will co-create a three-day faculty retreat (up to 10 people) at UW’s Friday Harbor Labs on San Juan Island this September to:

  1. better understand and find common ground among each other’s disciplinary framing of these concepts;
  2. explore results from the UW WB4L&L Spring Course Pilots and models of well-being and resilience practices from other universities;
  3. experience and reflect on affordances of different environments for active learning and fostering well-being;
  4. create a framework of approaches to incorporate into our Autumn courses.

We will meet early, mid- and post-Autumn quarter to share findings, successes, failures, and next steps. Students enrolled in these courses will be asked to share feedback through optional Catalyst surveys. Our process and findings will be shared across the College and with the UW Resilience Lab, and we aim to explore potential for continued development within CBE.

Primary Contact:
Julie Johnson
jmjsama@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $861
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

Indigenizing Urban Seattle is a podcast that contextualizes Indigenous environmental knowledge and resiliency from an urban Native lens. It serves as a platform to amplify urban Natives’ voices and perspectives in the environmental discourse. We focus on urban Natives currently residing in Seattle—a hub for urban Native resiliency, environmental activism, and solidarity movements.

Primary Contact:
Jessica Hernandez
jhernan@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,400
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

WAMM is a student-run directed reading program that pairs undergraduate women interested in a mathematics-related field with Ph.D. students from the Applied Mathematics Department at the University of Washington. The pairs meet every week over the course of a quarter to work through a project decided upon during the first meeting based on the mentee's interest. Projects typically involve a combination of reading texts or papers to learn new mathematical ideas, analytical work done by hand with pencil and paper, and numerical experimentation using a relevant programming language. In addition to their project material, participants are encouraged to discuss with their mentors other topics such as potential career paths, the graduate school application process, and what graduate school is actually like.

To promote a sense of community among the women in our program, we host and/or invite participants to a set of informal, but academically-oriented social events throughout the quarter including study halls and departmental "tea time". The program culminates with a mini-symposium wherein the undergraduates give short presentations on what they learned and accomplished during the quarter.

Primary Contact:
Micah Henson
mhenson2@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $700
Funding Received:
 2018-2019

Executive Summary

The “Resilience and Compassion @ Odegaard Pop-Up Events” will engage students in forming community around compassion and resilience, diversity, equity and inclusion, and holistic student wellness. The proposed event series will have a different focus each quarter that ties directly to the theme of resilience, compassion and sustainability:

  • Fall Quarter 2019: Resilience and Compassion @ Odegaard: Student Digital Wellness
  • Winter Quarter 2020: Resilience and Compassion @ Odegaard: Student Wellness and Equity
  • Spring Quarter 2020: Resilience and Compassion @ Odegaard: Student Wellness Resources for Personal, Local & Global Sustainability, in collaboration with UW Student Life partners.

Each pop-up event will include interactive activities (making, crafting, reflection), community-building (conversation starters, encouragement cards, interactive whiteboards), food, and companion resources like book displays and referrals to campus student services. This proposed event series will be done in collaboration with students, with opportunities for student leadership built in to each event

Primary Contact:
Emilie Vrbancic
vrbancic@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $140
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

This project is beginning a carbon-labeling initiative at the University of Washington which would bring awareness to the campus community about the environmental impacts associated with the food agriculture business and allow for people to make more environmentally conscious decisions with their food consumption habits. We are doing this by displaying informative posters on campus food stores and dining halls with an estimated amount of CO2 emissions and water intake it takes to produce particular food products. With this information available, we could allow the community to find more ways in their day-to-day life to make more environmentally sensitive decisions and learn to leverage our power as consumers to show support for sustainable, less carbon-intensive practices. These posters will be printed from a company (Greener Printer) that prints with 100% recycled material and works with CarbonFund.org to offset their carbon emissions from shipping.

Primary Contact:
Denise Devlyn
ddevlyn@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $400
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

All campus electricity, heating, cooling, air, and IT cables are supplied by the 8.5-mile network of utility tunnels underneath the campus. Within the tunnels, an underdrain system collects the leaking steam condensate and infiltrating groundwater and discharges it into the sewer main, Lake Union, or in vegetated areas on the Burke Gillman trail. This "nuisance" water represents a substantial water resource that could possibly be reclaimed as non-potable water. Possible uses for this water would be campus irrigation, dust control, or even an auxiliary supply to Drumheller Fountain. CSF has funded the testing of samples from various drain points to measure the concentrations of heavy metals and the presence of pathogenic bacteria. If the water is deemed suitable for reclamation treatment, a comprehensive report will be submitted to UW Sustainability, UW Facilities, and the Board of Regents.

Primary Contact:
Alexander Ratcliff
alexr529@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $490
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Sustainability Studio is an upper-level elective offered through the College of the Environment’s Program on the Environment. Sustainability Studio is an experiential learning course where students work in groups of 3-5 on different projects with clients from the UW and Seattle community to improve sustainability around the topic of the quarter. The topic of Sustainability Studio changes every quarter to allow for dynamic learning that addresses sustainability across a broad spectrum of issues. For the Spring 2019 quarter the topic of Sustainability Studio is "Sustainability in Pac-12 Athletics" in anticipation of the Pac-12 Sustainability Conference. Clients for this quarter’s student projects include UW Athletics, UW Recycling, UW Transportation, and Meal Matchup. Attending the Pac-12 Sustainability Conference will allow students to share what they’ve learned and researched throughout the quarter related to sustainability in athletics, as well as learning from the many guests and speakers attending the conference. The goal of this project is to continue pushing for increased sustainability in athletics which the attending students will contribute to as they report out on their experiences from the Pac-12 Sustainability Conference.

Primary Contact:
Alexa Schreier
schreier@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $560
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

KhSA UW has joined the Sadhu for Green movement that emerged from the Khmer community in Seattle as a desire to engage in awareness and action for environmental wellness. Our current focus is on sustainability and waste-consumption, where we are aiming to reduce the amount of waste that goes into the landfills by providing alternative compostable options besides plastic items and raising awareness about how to live more sustainably by reducing use of non-biodegradable products. For the initial implementation of this project at our annual Khmer New Year Show--our largest event of the year that hosts over 500 guests--we planned to switch out plastic for polyester tablecloths, replace all plastic utensils with compostable ones, have recyclable paper decorations and props, and encourage reuse of materials (i.e. bringing in reusable water bottles), with a goal of developing personal accountability with small steps and starting a legacy of sustainability that will continue in future years. Recognizing Khmer culture has roots in environmental stewardship and reverence of nature, we hope to approach environmental sustainability with cultural pride and a justice-oriented lens in order to cultivate healthier, happier living while allowing us to reconnect to our roots.

Primary Contact:
Andrew Chhor
chhora@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $750
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Interested in what a Green New Deal would look like here in Seattle and Washington State? Join us for a panel discussion on what potential policies could be implemented at the national, state, and city level. We will discuss the details of transitioning to a clean energy economy that provides living wage jobs and protects the most vulnerable communities in our fight against climate change. Date: April 25th, 6pm - 7:30pm Location: HUB Room 250 Panelists: Lylianna Allala, Legislative Aid for U.S. Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal Debolina Banerjee, Climate Justice Policy Analyst at Puget Sound Sage Mike O'Brien, Seattle City Council Member District 6 Dr. Nives Dolsak, Professor and Associate Director, School of Marine and Environmental Affairs Moderator: Ahmed Gaya, National Field Director for the Sunrise Movement Sponsor: This UW Earth Week event is being co-organized by GreenEvans, UW Students of the Seattle Chapter of the Sunrise Movement, the Climate Justice Workgroup of the graduate student Union UAW 4121, and the Washington Chapter of the Sierra Club. Find out more about the event on our Facebook page.

Primary Contact:
Namrata Kolla
namkolla@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $840
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Come participate in discussions and workshops designed to help you find the perfect avenue to enact responsible and sustainable change in your career. This summit allows you to follow your own interests in making the world a better place, and to listen to and engage with professionals making a positive change in our world. Join us to explore avenues for making a change in your future career from speakers like Sally Jewell, the former CEO of REI and Secretary of the Interior in the Obama administration, as well as representatives from Microsoft, PATH, Starbucks, Clif Bar & Company, Global Washington, MiiR, Union Bank of Switzerland, Earth Economics, and more.

Primary Contact:
Ben Weymiller
bmlwey@aol.com

Amount Awarded:
 $500
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Taiko Kai's third annual Spring Concert will provide a space to celebrate Japanese culture and the achievements of the club members throughout the year. The show will be two hours in duration, featuring drumming, dancing, bamboo flute, and guest performances from local groups! Hanwoollim from UW, Hidaka Taiko from Seattle University, and Dekoboko Taiko from the Seattle area will accompany Taiko Kai on-stage to showcase each group's unique energy. Taiko Kai will also be using this concert to spread awareness of sustainable practices. Hosting a concert creates a huge environmental impact, from paper-based advertising to waste like bottles or bags. In demonstrating simple solutions that challenge current conventions, we hope to propagate sustainable practices.

Primary Contact:
Michael Hart (Taiko Kai)
uwtaiko@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $3,039
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

The mission of Presence is to provide a space and community that supports student's individual practices of mindfulness and meditation. Through readings, exercises, meditation practices and more, we hope to inspire students to slow down and tap into the present moment. The core pillar of Presence is community. We encourage students to come together, be vulnerable, and support each other both in their practices and their personal challenges in life. We want students to radiate with presence and peace. Through events in collaboration with various UW entities, we also hope to host workshops, meditation classes, and other educational programs to allow our energy to extend in all directions.

Primary Contact:
Ethan Jone
ethansj@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $999
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Matsuri, which means "festival" in Japanese, is the Japanese Student Association's annual event where we showcase the diversity of Japanese culture with Japanese food, games, and performances. We have put on this event for more than 10 years, offering a place where the greater Seattle community can connect with each other through the rich culture of Japan.  Along with the many foods that we sell, we create a lot of waste in the form of plates, utensils, napkins, and water bottles, among others. As a culture, Japanese society has increased its efforts to protect the environment through more efficient waste management and better technology to reduce resource consumption. To reflect this, the Japanese Student Association would also like to take the initiative to make our event and our attendees more aware of the environmental impact. As a student led event run primarily by the officers in the RSO and other student volunteers, we hope to begin making this push for a more sustainable event for this Matsuri and all future Matsuri's to come, and through this funding we hope to significantly reduce waste on campus at our 700 attendee event. Not only that, we really strive to educate both our staff and our attendees through volunteer orientations and allocating more volunteers to monitor waste disposal to ensure that all of our new biodegradable ware will be properly disposed.

Primary Contact:
Nana Yamagata
ny7@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The University of Washington has been creating more and more snags out of fallen trees in the past year. Adding snags (standing dead trees) to the landscape adds a substantial amount of ecological benefits. Snags (dead wood) provides new life to habitat. They provide food for many wood boring insects and mammals such as ants, beetles, and woodpeckers. The cavities within this dead wood make great nesting habitat and living quarters for woodpeckers, red squirrels and many other species of birds, bats and insects. When a tree dies it has only partially fulfilled its potential ecological function. However, snags can be unsightly to people who do not understand their benefits. We would like to continue this trend of adding snags to the landscape and to change people’s perception about them by adding signage to increase their knowledge of its benefit for society. The signage will all be made out of salvage wood from the salvage wood program.

Primary Contact:
Michael Bradshaw
mjb34@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $40,000
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Through implementing reusable containers within the Housing & Food Services Dining Facilities, we will leave a lasting impact on the University of Washington community by reducing food waste and decreasing disposable container usage, overall lessening the University’s input into the waste stream. This program has the potential to encourage healthier eating habits among students and create a new relationship between them and sustainability.

Primary Contact:
Luke Walter Schefke
lschefke@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $28,100
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

This project draws on interdisciplinary expertise and creativity in developing luminaire speed bumps powered by solar energy to sustainably and innovatively improve safety at the University of Washington (UW) Seattle Campus. Ultimately, we want to implement the highest performing prototype to the most trafficked, least illuminated paths on campus to keep students, faculty, and staff safe. Addressing the UW’s Campus Landscape Framework objective of creating connections across the “mosaic” of the Central Campus, this prototype will improve circulation through an iconic landscape, create a unique experience, increase safety, and create opportunities for collaboration between students and industry partners. 

A hybrid solar system, meaning a system that can be both off-grid and grid-tied depending on conditions and need, will be used to power luminaires embedded in a temporary, modular speed bump. This reliably improves safety and visibility without permanently changing roadways. The modular configuration also facilitates maintenance and flexibility. 

These speed bumps would be located at different points of the Burke Gilman trail so when feet, wheelchairs, or bicycles pass over them a sensor will be triggered and spot illumination will be delivered almost instantly. The greatest load to pass over these speed bumps will be small campus vehicles, materials will be selected based on their load carrying capacity. 

Primary Contact:
Lorenzo Guio
lortero@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $48,694
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

*Please see link below for updated scope of project and new budget*

Over the course of the last year, the Olympic Natural Resources Center (ONRC) in the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences (SEFS) has piloted a project focused on ethnoforestry on campus. This has brought together a wide range of the UW community, from undergraduates to alumni, and from across majors to enhance sustainability on our campus and showcase a different methodology of ecosystem management and health. Ethnoforestry uses knowledge from local people and applies this to ecosystem management. This project utilizes a new framework that gives equal weight to both community wellbeing and environmental wellbeing to create a more holistic form of ecosystem sustainability. Through a CSF grant for the 2018-19 academic year, we have been able to develop a wide range of projects including creating ethnoforestry garden beds on campus, developing raised beds to grow culturally important plant species, creating a capstone and internship program, and more. During the 2019-2020 year, we will be working hard to increase our reach across campus, offering more opportunities to get involved, creating additional ethnoforestry garden beds on campus, hosting workshops at the ONRC Hoop House, and interviewing members of our UW community to understand what does community wellbeing and sustainability mean to them. Through this project, more voices will be heard and highlighted, allowing for a student driven path to making our campus more sustainable.

Primary Contact:
Courtney Bobsin
cbobsin@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $5,720
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

This feasibility study for Native Green Roof Sculpture has been developed in order to acquire site analysis and engineering/architectural consultation for the future development of the native plant (waterwise) green roof architectural structure on the UW campus. For this study, I will gather pertinent architectural, ecological and artistic consultation for site/project development and approval. I will be working in collaboration with Landscape Architect Kristine Kenney and with campus art administrator Jaclynn Eckhardt. Sound engineering will also be crucial for the success and safety of this living structure. In regards to this, I will seek consultation and design approval from the Campus Engineering Services as well final legal approval of design from an outside firm. Collaboration and communication, specifically with the School of Art and the College of Built Environment will also be needed in order to represent and market the projects intentions effectively. In regards to this, all pertinent connections will be made in order to complete the final project proposal with design and specs for the September CSF Grant period. Project Description: Native Green roof sculpture will be a large environmentally driven abstract structure, built with sustainable and integral materials and implemented with a water wise native plant green roof. The bold and colorful outdoor structure will be designed so one can actively engage with it from all aspects. Colorful glazed ceramic, molded concrete, salvaged steel and greenery will be used in an open and dimensional fashion. Structural pillars will be sculpted with integrity and add interest to all sides. Walking under the structure one will see an organic ceramic design molded into the underside of the roof. The unique and free design of the green roof will provide invigorating shape, form, plant life, and texture found nowhere else on campus. Indigenous climate adapted plants will be incorporated in the roof top garden and in other unexpected areas of the sculpture. A requirement of only a two-year establishment period of summer watering will ensure that the plants can sustain themselves with no supplemental water post establishment. Sedum, grass, native flowers and other low water plants will be selected in partnership with the Center for Urban Horticulture at the University. A plaque will be incorporated to narrate the green roofs innovation and purpose. As we live in such a digital and formally built world today, this green roof will create a place of relief, providing people with something invigorating, natural and tactile. Walking the line of sculpture, architecture and ecology, this unique living art piece will invite people to see the blended connection that nature, art and education can have in within built environment.

Primary Contact:
Luke Armitstead
luke89@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $14,405
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The proposed project will be a collaboration between the UW Farm and the Intellectual House as well as other Native American groups on campus and in the community as we work together to design and plant two gardens of indigenous plants with significance in native food traditions.Food Sovereignty is defined as “the inherent right of a community to identify their own food system”. As one step towards food sovereignty for the UW community, we hope to help create spaces where students, staff, faculty, and community members can learn about, grow, and consume traditional foods. While the details of garden planning and future events will be driven by our campus and community partners, we envision this project will incorporate educational events, community gatherings, art and storytelling. This project will be a collaboration between UW Farm staff/interns/volunteers, Native student groups on campus, staff and faculty partners, tribal Elders and community members. Campus and community partners will determine the specific design for the native garden.

Primary Contact:
Kamaka’ike/Natalie Bruecher, Student Lead Intellectual House
bruecher@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $28,350
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The UW Applied Physics Laboratory is asking the Campus Sustainability Fund for $28,350 to purchase an electric propulsion system from PureWaterCraft and hydraulic steering controls. Funds from this grant will be used to bring a new technology into the UW Applied Physics Laboratory which we could not do without being awarded a grant or contract specifically requiring it. Optionally, a system supporting smaller hulls could be purchased for $19850 if the committee prefers.

An Applied Physics Laboratory student team, working with Engineers from UW APL and PureWaterCraft, will design a mounting and control system which will allow the motor and battery pack to move easily between a multitude of hull types such as a Rigid-Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB) and a Whaler style hull. The RHIB install will be set up for transport to remote locations for rapid deployment in fragile environments. The control systems will enable remote or autonomous control of the vessel for future research and development of autonomous systems and obstacle avoidance which will be used for future student projects.

Both hulls will be clearly marked UW APL and Electric Drive Research Vessel or some other indication of alternative energy to encourage outreach. A student run competition to design the graphics will further drive interest in the project. Photos of these boats will be included in project write ups and publications which may get broad distribution. These boats will be seen often while operating around the Seattle waterfront and Lake Washington and in reports and news stories when operating remotely.

UW APL will work with the Seattle Yacht Club to register the boat for the opening day Regatta, bring it to Curiosity Days: Climate Change (Formerly Polar Science Weekend) at the Pacific Science Center, and use it to develop a new pilot program for elementary students focused on sustainable research in and about our local waterways.

CSF funds will be used to purchase the propulsion system from PureWaterCraft along with a hydraulic steering and control system which will support Remote or Autonomous operation. UW APL will supply a hull for the project. UW APL will also fund the student time for the project and individual engineers will donate the mentoring time for the installation and system test.

Once the installation is complete, this project will allow UW APL Engineers and student interns the opportunity to evaluate an emerging technology for use in some of the most fragile marine environments in the world. APL frequently undertakes projects in the Arctic and other areas where they encourage or require researchers to “leave no trace”.

The UW APL is a leader in AUV development and use which requires many launch and recovery operations from small boats. Researchers Craig McNeil and Sarah Webster, along with APL Field Engineers and student helpers operate vehicles that navigate underwater using acoustics that are sensitive to noise in the water. The virtually silent propulsion system from PureWaterCraft will be ideal for tracking and recovering AUVs while the absence of exhaust makes life better for the students and Field Engineers in the boat at slow idle or station keeping waiting for a vehicle to surface.

The UW APL works with researchers, scientists and engineers all over the world and needs stay current to be able to continue to lead by example.

Primary Contact:
Ian Good
IanGood@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $4,216
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

EcoReps' new 3D bins displays with physical items instructing people how to sort their trash, recycling, and compost – in the Husky Union Building (HUB)’s food court, the Husky Den. These 3D bins should help UW divert waste from landfills, educate and engage the student body about the waste disposal process and it’s impacts, and ease the burden of maintaining the previous bin displays.  

The Husky Den has ten three-bin (compost, recycling, and trash/landfill) waste disposal stations, each of which has had 3D bin displays for the past few years. The 3D displays have been far more effective than any other form of signage currently used by the UW. A recent study by students in ENVIR 250 found that UW’s 3D displays (referred to in the study as “signs with physical items”) had the highest rate of sorting accuracy of the signage studied. Waste was disposed with 81% accuracy at bins with 3D displays, compared to just 61% accuracy for posters and 68% for videos (Chiado et al.). These bins have been the UW’s most effective education tools despite their DIY construction and informal maintenance crew.  Created by UW staff and students on their own time by sawing plastic bins in half, hot-gluing relevant compost, recycling, and trash materials onto the half-bin, and covering the open front with sheets of polylactic acid, the bins need frequent maintenance. For many years, the bins had to be maintained by a single member of the UW Sustainability Office, who cleaned and repaired the bins once a month without pay. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the bins’ open-top design has occasionally led students to use the displays as basketball hoops for food items and condiment packages. EcoReps has since taken over the cleaning of the bins, but maintaining the bins continues to require more work than is ideal. 

Over winter break of the 2018-2019 school year, HUB custodians took bins down for cleaning and they were thrown away by accident. Because HUB management and Housing and Food Services will not replace the bins, EcoReps would like to take this opportunity to 1) improve the displays by creating more effective and more easily maintained signage and 2) engage the broader UW community in a conversation about the waste disposal process. 

Primary Contact:
Julie Tolmie
jhtolmie@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Supplier Diversity Program at UW is a registered student organization that promotes the use of local, minority, women, and LGBTQ owned companies around the greater Seattle area. Eat Local Seattle Food Fair is just one of the many outreach projects that we are working on, in order to encourage the UW community to utilize these companies. We will be inviting vendors from across the community to come on to campus to sell their goods, and be further exposed to the UW community. Our hope is to provide a fun interactive experience for the UW community during Spring quarter, but we also strive to generate exposure for the companies that will in turn help their business in the long run. Whether it be through UW departments utilizing them as suppliers in the future, or students simply visiting them during the school year. The long term impact is of utmost importance to us.

Primary Contact:
Aidan Jensen
jensea2@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

TEDxUofW is a 100% student run RSO that hosts a yearly "TEDxUofW Conference" where speakers from the UW and Seattle community come to share their stories and experiences to an audience. Speakers range from UW students, to professors, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and innovative thinkers of the Seattle Community. In addition to speaking, we also have experience parlors, discussions, and a full day experience for all attendees. Speakers center around the topics of Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) and we have had speakers talk about a range of ideas circulating around their passion, the environment, education, and more. We are excited to host this year's conference on May 4th in Kane 130 and cannot wait to showcase the amazing speakers of this year.

Primary Contact:
Maya Gopalan
tedxuofw@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Keraton is one of the largest Indonesian cultural events in the West Coast. Over the past few years, Keraton has been ISAUW’s biggest and fastest growing annual event that attracted over 8,000 people in 2017. This year, we are expecting 10,000 individuals.

Through the years, we have dedicated our resources to reduce our environmental impact. Last year, through implementing “Keraton Going Green,” we made it our mission to require all vendors to use compostable food packaging. In addition, we informed all of our visitors of the locations of recycling and compost bins within the event location. This year, aside from implementing our previous methods, we plan to promote environmental awareness through a performance during the event. Our creative management department has been working towards this and we have also sent out an application for performers who would be interested in educating guests on environmental issues. We are optimistic that these performances, guests will be better informed on the current situation of our environment while also being entertained.

Primary Contact:
Kevin Nathanael Hamonangan
kevinnh4@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Night Market is an annual event that reaches thousands of people. The Taiwanese Student Association is dedicated to making Night Market greener and greener each year. This year we are focusing on composting and the importance of reusable water bottles.

Primary Contact:
Justin Ho
justin.ho97@outlook.com

Amount Awarded:
 $6,000
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Within the School of Music, students of the Vocal Performance department are studying and performing 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.

Primary Contact:
Trevor Ainge
Aingetj@outlook.com

Amount Awarded:
 $13,200
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

It is no secret that for over 500 years, the wealthy continent of Africa has been and continues to be exploited - both for its resources and its peoples. However, with the boom of communication and information technology in recent years, African voices have begun to spread around the globe, and we have learned that despite the revolutionary conflicts of the mid-20th century, African nation states remain under the influence of imperial powers. These previously-colonized countries are subject to the whim of the neocolonial and neoliberal policies imposed by international, financial institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Furthermore, by listening closely the affected, we discover that the ongoing development projects are utterly unsustainable and do not serve to truly benefit Africans. In recognizing that current development projects are draining Africa of its natural resources, destroying its ecosystems, and exploiting its peoples, Africa Now is seeking ~$13,000 to assist in organizing our second annual conference to inspire young Black students and professionals to join the movement for sustainable, afrocentric, African development. By tapping into the network of young, Black students and professionals in Washington, we can bring together an interdisciplinary group of driven individuals to evaluate how our skills can play a role in the sustainable growth of our common, ancestral homeland. The Africa NOW Conference -- hosted and organized in collaboration with the African Student Association, Black Student Union, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, and other student organizations -- will bring together over 200, young, Black students and professionals. At the conference, we will provide them with the insights, knowledge, and resources necessary to envision sustainable ways to improve their communities in Seattle, in Africa, and across the Diaspora. Through an all-star panel, dynamic breakout sessions, and networking, we’ll inspire and equip young Black professionals to fight for a sustainable future for Africa. The conference will be held in the Ethnic Cultural Center from 10am - 5pm. Lunch and refreshments will be provided throughout the day.

Primary Contact:
Hawi Nemomssa
nemomssahawi@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Black Student Union Legacy Soiree is an annual celebration and banquet that centers excellence within the Black communities at the University of Washington and in the greater Seattle area. We are also putting in essential effort in continuing to fundraise for our endowment fund, providing as a scholarship for underrepresented students.

Primary Contact:
Safiya Bansfield
safiyab@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $72,323
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Grounds Management, the UW farm and the UW Botanic Gardens (UWBG) are looking to reduce our carbon footprint by adding 7 electric bikes to our fleets. Our goals are to decrease our to reduce our reliance on vehicles that burn fossil fuels and show that electric bikes can be used as a alternative for fossil fuel burning vehicles for the majoirty of maitenance tasks accomplished on campus. These bikes would be used on main campus, the UW Farm, the Center for Urban Horticulture and the Arboretum. Each of these organizations works directly with students who would benefit from this program.

Primary Contact:
Michael Bradshaw
mjb34@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $20,796
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Our Mission: To reduce plastic waste on campus. To educate others about plastic waste and recycling. To create a close-loop recycling system the UW Seattle campus. To inspire others to join the fight against plastic waste. Our first goal is to build a small, safe DIY plastics recycling workshop in the Maple Hall Area 01 Maker Space. The workspace will consist of four machines that shred, melt, compress, and mold used plastic, so it can be transformed into usable products, such as 3D printing filament. We will use machines already available on the market, as well as build the remainder of the machines using open source blueprints and online resources from preciousplastic.com. This project is designed to be cross-disciplinary, providing raw material to arts and science students for 3D printing, construction projects, and as a sculptural medium. Additionally, the project will generate research opportunities in the fields of material and mechanical engineering, waste management policy, sustainability, industrial design, communications, and business development. We will partner with students, RSOs, academic and administrative departments to grow interest and engagement among students, with an aim toward shaping positive impacts on UW's plastics life-cycle from purchasing to consumption to waste and recycling practices.

Primary Contact:
Blair Kaufer
Blairk2@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Diversity in Psychology is an RSO that was created in response to the alarming lack of diversity and representation in the field of Psychology, and specifically within the Psychology department at the University of Washington. Our founding members noticed the large emphasis of the experiences of White people as the center of many class discussions as well as in media representations of mental health and mental illness. We established this RSO in order to tackle some of these issues of representation and education, and used this momentum to shape our first meetings around topics that bridged social in/justice and Psychology. We have led many community conversations about Microaggressions, Impostor Syndrome, our own “Seattle Affective Disorder”, and a discussion about “The Mis-Education of Mental Illness”, which focused on breaking the stigma that mental health and therapy aren’t for people of color. Through our meetings, we aim to create a focused group of students of color in the field. One aspect of our organization is connecting with members and groups in our community, and so we decided to extend our goals and ideas to high school students in the King County area who identify as people of color and who are interested in Psychology.This conference will be centered on familiarizing students with life at the University of Washington and highlighting the importance of people like them in the field. We aim to start this conversation at a young age because these students are most likely developing their identities and figuring out their part in society. The conference will be an all-day event, beginning at 9am and commencing around 4:30 pm. The day will consist of a Keynote speaker, a series of breakout sessions & workshops, lunch, an RSO fair, and a campus tour. We hope to have students leave the conference a little less nervous about attending college and inspired and educated on the diverse field of Psychology.

Primary Contact:
Ayala Feder-Haugabook
ayalafh@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $999
Funding Received:
 2019-2020
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The student team would like to use the UW Tower, in particular, the newly renovated UW-IT space to demonstrate how to create a healthy workplace. Students in Professor Kim’s CESI 599 course will participate in a quarter long measurement and verification of indoor air quality, light, and other comfort criteria in addition to identifying and documenting relevant strategies that promote healthy workspace. The end product is to use the narratives as support documents to certify the newly renovated UW IT space as the possible Fitwel building. Fitwel is a nationally recognized certification system (similar to U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design system). If UW Tower is granted the certification, it would be the first building on campus to be a Fitwel space. 

Primary Contact:
Lysandra A. Medal
medal@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $100,000
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

UW-Solar is collaborating with Perkins+Will and UW-Biology to install a 100 kW solar array on the roof of the Life Sciences Building. The solar array will generate approximately 105,000 kWh of energy per year. This will reduce the carbon footprint of the building by nearly 80 metric tons of CO2e per year, which is equal to the amount of carbon generated from burning over 85,000 pounds of coal. UW-Solar previously worked with Perkins+Will on the construction of the Building-Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) fins that are installed on the south facade of the building.

Primary Contact:
Alexander Ratcliff
alexr529@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $405
Funding Received:
 2018-2019
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Each quarter students buy brand new notebooks and throughout each lecture slowly fill the pages with diagrams and key points. However, as dead week rolls around many find they have excess blank pages leftover. A large portion of students hold on to these notebooks, never to look back at their notes, while others recycle or even put the paper into the trash. Our campus Rotaract Club is proposing an innovative alternative, to collect these notebooks at the end of each quarter to be disassembled and rebound into new notebooks. After disassembling all of notebook parts, papers of similar sizes will be grouped and then using aluminum screw posts and covers made of recycled materials, new notebooks will be formed. The recreated notebooks will be freely distributed at the start of the next quarter for their second lives in assisting student learning. To complete the “Rebound” project, our club will require upfront funding for a machining tools, customized stamps promoting sustainability, collection bins, and reusable promotion signs, along with funds to purchase pins and covers for each new notebook.

Primary Contact:
Arielle Howell
ahowel24@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $952
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Hub bin installation is a useful tool to help educate students, staff, faculty, and visitors about recycling and composting. Currently the installation has three bins that are synced up to a set of screens that tell users how their proper waste disposal affects the environment. Unfortunately, the current bins are too small, difficult to service, have a limited capacity, are visually unappealing, and cannot handle the amount of foot traffic and waste. By noon, the bins are completely overflowing, deterring people from using them. By redesigning and expanding the HUB bins, it will allow for more users to interact with the full installation while encouraging proper waste managing habits.

Primary Contact:
Izabella Dadula
izdadula@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

One of our most successful projects, the salvage wood program, is starting an advertising campaign. This project turns wood from fallen trees into usable products such as benches, tables and nametags. Keeping our trees on campus substantially reduces our carbon footprint. Grinding up and transporting these trees to cedar grove requires the use of fossil fuels and produces carbon emissions. Currently, there is more salvage wood than there is demand for its usable products. At the current rate we will not have adequate room to store all of the downed wood for future projects. In order for this project to stay operational and efficiently use all of the wood from around campus, product orders need to be placed by the campus community. This grant will be used to increase our outreach by creating a workable website where campus organizations, faculty, staff and alumni can order different products created from salvaged wood. We will work with students from the marketing and business school to help us set up a website and advertising campaign throughout campus. We will also create wooden tags and plaques using salvage wood to be placed in high visited areas throughout campus (The HUB, Suzzallo, Odeggard, Washington Commons, etc.). These tags/plaques will contain the following ‘To order salvage wood products (name tags, benches, tables etc.) please visit WWW.XXXXXX.com.

Primary Contact:
Michael Bradshaw
mjb34@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $223
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed
Primary Contact:
Bernadette Bresee
bcbresee@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The UW Night Market is one of the biggest annual on-campus event, held by the Taiwanese Student Association (TSA). This year, UWNM brings up to 30 vendors to Red Square to promote Taiwanese culture. There are variety of exotic foods as well as running games and activities for the audience to participate in. On average, we have about 7000+ people attending UWNM and its popularity grows each year. In previous years, the size of the event has caused problems in waste management. UW has strict rules regarding waste disposal and sorting waste into its correct receptacle. At such a large and exciting event many people may disregard signs on waste containers and throw everything in the same can despite whether it is garbage, recycling, or compost. This year the TSA hopes to eliminate this problem by better educating the public and reaching out to CSF for more awareness. To reach these goals, TSA made several videos about sustaining resources by bringing our own cups, straws, and reusable cutleries. In addition to these approaches to the public, TSA also stations volunteers at each waste station to ensure that everyone enjoying the festivities were correctly disposing of their waste into the respective container. By taking these steps to better manage their waste the TSA has shown its dedication to make UW a more sustainable community.

Primary Contact:
Tiffany Lin
tifflin@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $375
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed
Primary Contact:
Serena Jonel Allendorfer
sja98@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $644
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed
Primary Contact:
Jiamei Shang
jjshang@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed
Primary Contact:
Alexander Urasaki
aurasaki@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $35,000
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Food waste is an urgent public health issue. In the U.S., approximately 31% of post-harvest food is wasted (i.e. thrown away or spoiled). This is approximately 133 billion pounds of food annually, costing approximately $161 billion (“USDA | OCE | U.S. Food Waste Challenge | FAQ’s,” n.d.). This is shocking and shameful, given national rates of food insecurity and poverty. In addition, food waste often rots in landfills, creating methane gas, which is nearly 4x as damaging to the ozone layer as CO2 emissions. We have to address food waste at the local, city, and national level.

This project proposal involves building an anaerobic digester on the UW Seattle campus to utilize food waste to produce compost and renewable energy. An anaerobic digester would have three main environmental impacts on the UW Seattle Campus: 1) Carbon Emissions: the anaerobic digester would utilize approximately 135lbs of food waste per day, so less food waste would be hauled from the UW campus to Cedar Grove Composting Facility. Reducing the amount of food waste that is hauled to Cedar Grove would reduce carbon emissions from garbage/waste disposal trucks that drive from UW to Cedar Grove. 2) Soil Health: an anaerobic digester would produce nutrient-rich compost that could be applied to the UW farm and Center for Urban Horticulture (and other locations on campus). 3) Renewable Energy: an anaerobic digester would be a small-scale model of how to generate renewable energy from food waste. The food waste is broken down by microbes, which produce methane gas, and the methane gas can be used to power a generator for electricity.

Primary Contact:
Aaron Flaster
aflaster@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $25,301
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed
Primary Contact:
Sarah Shank
sashank7@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $15,867
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Over the past year, a team consisting of a researcher and students within the College of the Environment conducted a feasibility study to evaluate the potential of using games to promote more sustainable actions on campus (i.e., “green games”). The feasibility study consisted of three parts: a review of existing games, hosting a game jam, and a survey of the UW community to assess receptiveness and preferences related to green gaming. The feasibility study resulted in many positive outcomes, including development of game prototypes, creating connections in the sustainability and gaming communities (both within and outside of UW), and measuring interest and preferences related to green games.

Primary Contact:
Lauren Kuehne
lkuehne@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $52,205
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase
Primary Contact:
Jason Hodin
hodin@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $92,800
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase
Primary Contact:
Courtney Bobsin
cbobsin@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $700
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

A Feast for the Senses is a community pop-up café focusing on consumption and the power of consumer choice, specifically through the lens of food systems, both industrial and regenerative.

Food is more than just something to be full of--each meal brings its own story to the table, and has lasting effects. This project seeks to cultivate awareness, increase transparency on consumer choice, and dispel notions of competition. Simultaneously, this project hopes to engage communities to find common grounds and imagine cooperative, collaborative solutions to complex social and environmental problems in the interest of peace and holistic healing.

In addition to a honey tasting and sensory-engaging games, light snacks and tea will be provided for free, until supplies run out.

This is an event curated by Kat Kavanagh for her Community, Environment, and Planning senior capstone project, harmonizing combined knowledge pools of business & marketing, urban planning & food systems, and indigenous ways of knowing & wisdom. She believes that if the local is global, that if the problem is the solution, then we can collectively eat our way to happier and healthier bodies, communities & planetary systems. All is one!

Primary Contact:
Kathryn Kavanagh
kkavan@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $23,000
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed
Primary Contact:
Edward D. Blum
blumedw@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Keraton is ISAUW's most iconic event. Currently, Keraton is the largest Indonesian festival in the West coast, and the second largest in the United States. Held annually at the UW since 2011, Keraton has fascinated and mesmerized students and visitors alike through unique activities including a range of traditional dance performances, games, and food prepared by local and international vendors coming from different regions of Indonesia. We are committed to leave an indelible impression and has attracted up to 8000 multinational visitors from all over the country. This year, our theme of the event is Legends and Folklore, where we strive to take visitors on a journey through the traditional stories of Indonesian folklore.

Primary Contact:
janice leevin
jleevin77@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $3,900
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed
Primary Contact:
Sasha Gordon
uwgreengreekdirector@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $150
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Green Evans, the environmental policy RSO at the Evans School of Public Policy, hosted a panel event on February 13, 2018, to spark discussion at UW and the surrounding community about the various climate policy proposals currently being considered for Washington State. The CSF grant covered travel expenses for one of the panelists.

Primary Contact:
Namrata Kolla
namkolla@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $10,000
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

This Feasibility/Pilot Study would evaluate a) Site Location b) Custom-Design Review c) Ongoing Maintenance requirements for building a 160-square foot anaerobic digester on the UW Seattle Campus. The anaerobic digester would utilize food waste to produce renewable energy (biogas) and compost. The biogas and compost could be used for research projects by professors/students, and the methane gas could be used to generate electricity or power water boilers on the UW campus. The food waste would be provided by the UW Husky Union Building (HUB).

Food waste is an urgent public health issue. In the U.S., approximately 31% of post-harvest food is wasted (i.e. thrown away or spoiled). This is approximately 133 billion pounds of food annually, costing approximately $161 billion (“USDA | OCE | U.S. Food Waste Challenge | FAQ’s,” n.d.). This is shocking and shameful, given national rates of food insecurity and poverty. In addition, food waste often rots in landfills, creating methane gas, which is nearly 4x as damaging to the ozone layer as CO2 emissions. We have to address food waste at the local, city, and national level. This project proposal involves building an anaerobic digester on the UW Seattle campus to utilize food waste to produce compost and renewable energy.

An anaerobic digester would have three main environmental impacts on the UW Seattle Campus:

  1. Carbon Emissions: the anaerobic digester would utilize approximately 135lbs of food waste per day, so less food waste would be hauled from the UW campus to Cedar Grove Composting Facility. Reducing the amount of food waste that is hauled to Cedar Grove would reduce carbon emissions from garbage/waste disposal trucks that drive from UW to Cedar Grove.
     
  2. Soil Health: an anaerobic digester would produce nutrient-rich compost that could be applied to the UW farm and Center for Urban Horticulture (and other locations on campus).
     
  3. Renewable Energy: an anaerobic digester would be a small-scale model of how to generate renewable energy from food waste. The food waste is broken down by microbes, which produce methane gas, and the methane gas can be used to power a generator for electricity.
Primary Contact:
Aaron Flaster
aflaster@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $17,000
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

As the human race expands to larger population numbers, there are a lot of limiting factors to consider. One of such factors is the amount of accessible fresh water which is becoming scarcer each year with increased demands. Not only are we using more water, the quality of water is of great concern. Developing countries around the world have designed simple water collection systems but often times the water they collect contains harmful bacteria and many times water is taken straight from a polluted source. Waterborne illnesses from contaminated water are one of the main causes of death worldwide. Our team here in EWB recognizes the need for clean drinking water and a sustainable way of life along with the parallels of this project being conducted around the globe. In EWB, we combine our different disciplines of engineering to design, build, and implement systems that can alleviate developing nations that lack access to life essentials. This partnership focuses on implementation of environmentally and economically sustainable engineering projects while giving future professionals a hands-on experience and opportunity to help the world with what they have learned. The rainwater system we plan on adding to is a great addition to the environmentally-friendly systems being used in the new Public Health Building. The educational aspect of the piece, that we will provide with an easy-to-follow display, informs everyone who enters the building about the benefits of such a system and the logistics of how the system works, something that is not common knowledge. We hope the educational aspect of the project will spark a transition in buildings around the Seattle area (and beyond), as we hope to inspire other buildings to implement rainwater systems for its ecological and economic reasons. This display system will only cost around $2,000 as an estimation plus the added $15,000 from the additions to the system needed to put it in the lobby. The University of Washington, although not limited to, can also perform ongoing research and monitor water quality at this site with outlet pipes allowing for such testing. Development of new water filters for drinking or other uses, such as for fish populations, can also be conducted, but, this is still in the developing stages.

Primary Contact:
Andrew Lindgren
lindga2@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $30,000
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

A feasibility study for setting up the indoor vertical farming on UW campus. The long term goal is to start a sustainable student-run indoor vertical farm on UW campus to provide fruits and vegetables for all the UW cafeterias.

Primary Contact:
Kurt Kung
ckung@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $420
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The inaugural Global Leadership Summit took place on April 4th, and provided a space for approximately 170 business professionals, students, and community members to discuss and delve into this question of how we as a community can engage with real-world decisions and discussions that are sustainable, ethical, and socially responsible. These issues, looked at in a global context of health, business, technology, and environmental public policy, are intersectional in nature. And while they cannot be solved overnight, having this forum for ideas and a chance to continue the conversation thereafter is a great place to start.

The evening began with Jennifer Bibby, the Director of Global Social Impact for Starbucks, with a keynote address about Starbucks' various initiatives that aim to support everyone in their supply chain. Attendees then split off into two consecutive rounds of workshops led by speakers from the European Commission, UW Comotion, Microsoft, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and others. The event itself was sponsored by the Global Business Center (UW Foster School of Business) with additional funding from the Campus Sustainability Fund and Foster Community Fund. It was co-sponsored by the Certificate of International Studies in Business (CISB, UW Foster School of Business), UW Office of Sustainability, Net Impact UW, and ReThink UW. A hallmark of the event was the diversity of people and speakers in attendance, and the student-led planning committee and support network is a reflection of that.

Students Henry Milander, Nabilla Gunawan, and Alex Urasaki initially conceived of this idea because they realized that the societal problems we face transcend sectors and disciplines, and while businesses and organizations are well-positioned to solve them, they need responsible leadership. Unfortunately, the future situations students will find themselves in are ambiguous and difficult; determining what’s best for all stakeholders is challenging. These three student didn’t, however, see the solution as simply teaching students about corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability, but that there was a clear need to give attendees hands-on experience with creative problem-solving and wrestling with such ambiguous and challenging issues. By giving students collaborative, hands-on experiences in these four fields, the Global Leadership Summit sought to prepare them as future decision makers to recognize opportunities, frame their arguments, and address ethical and sustainable dilemmas with a broad group of stakeholders in mind. With a heightened awareness of global issues, networking with leaders in their field, and real-world discussions, students left GLS better prepared to solve global problems, and teach others to do the same. It's exciting to think that this event was just one part of the growing momentum on campus and in the Seattle community to have this dialogue on such important global issues and help develop people to lead responsibly in these matters. We're thrilled with the turnout, but we're equally excited to how it evolves in the coming years, with its current leadership considering nothing short of a campus certificate program, minor or even center.

Primary Contact:
Henry Milander
milanhen@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $999
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

UW Matsuri has been the Japanese Student Association’s main annual event for over 10 years. Matsuri, meaning festival in Japanese, is an event where we display the rich culture of Japan with delicious Japanese food, festive and thematic Japanese games, and many exciting and traditional performances. Along with the many foods that we sell, we create a lot of waste in the form of plates, utensils, napkins, and water bottles, among others. As a culture, Japanese society has increased its efforts to protect the environment through more efficient waste management and better technology to reduce resource consumption, and to reflect this we in the Japanese Student Association would also like to take the initiative to make our event and our attendees more aware of the environmental impact. As a student led event run primarily by officers in the RSO and other student volunteers, we hope to begin making this push for a more sustainable event for this Matsuri and all future Matsuri’s to come, and through this funding we hope to significantly reduce waste on campus at our 600 attendee event. Not only that, we really strive to educate both our staff and our attendees through volunteer orientations and allocating more volunteers to monitor waste disposal to ensure that all of our new biodegradable ware will be properly disposed.

Primary Contact:
Michael Hom
mr1h@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed
Primary Contact:
Amy Hughes
ash7@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $900
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Every year in the United States, 50 million pounds of plastic toothbrushes are sent to landfills. This project aims to change that by convincing the American public to switch to compostable bamboo toothbrushes. To do this, I created a pilot program for the University of Washington School of Dentistry faculty and students to receive informed feedback. Funded by the UW Campus Sustainability Fund and the Community Support Grant through the Community, Environment and Planning major, the project produced 150 complete “green” goodie bags with compostable floss, biodegradable toothpaste, and a compostable bamboo toothbrush packaged in a compostable bag with a survey. The survey’s purpose is to assess the user experience of UW Dentistry faculty and students. The initial results of the study show barriers to adapting to “green” dental products, specifically bamboo toothbrushes. This was particularly acute among respondents, who expressed hesitation towards the green dental products. This study demonstrates that attempts to make dental care more sustainable will face challenges, including technological, regulatory, economic, and cultural barriers to change.

Primary Contact:
Isabelle de Mozenette
idemozenette@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $10,491
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

On an annual basis, Africa Now will mobilize a community of passionate and active young professionals that are committed to building a sustainable future for Africa and enriching their global perspective through panels, workshops, resource fairs, and networking.

Primary Contact:
Kolawole
wole@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $26,043
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

EarthGames plans to build a video game called 60 Second Sustainability(60SS) for mobile phones and tablets that educates students about many sustainability actions they can take on campus, while promoting and building bridges among RSOs.  We seek to educate a new audience of students about sustainability actions they can take, and spread the word about campus organizations.  The cost is $26,043, which will go to student managers and a professional game developer on staff with EarthGames.  The game will be made available for free to download for mobile devices, and shown in a variety of tabling settings and events across campus.  The game, which recently won the Audience Choice Award at the UW Sustainability Game Jam, will consist of many 5-10 second "microgames" played in quick succession, which allows us to introduce many sustainability concepts in a short period of time.  

Primary Contact:
Judy Twedt
jtwedt@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $11,700
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

With the current political climate steering us away from environmental and social justice, now is the time to take action. The UW Sustainability Action Network (SAN), in partnership with Earth Club, Arts & Entertainment (A&E), EcoReps, UW Hip Hop Student Association (HHSA), UW Sustainability and other partners, plans to bring a new level of student leadership and vision to the annual Earth Day celebration. This year’s Earth Day Festival will bring people together through performance, art, food, and activism in an immersive celebration of the unique identities and unity of the world. This festival will be a demonstration of sustainability in action both in its production and in its message. By showcasing the environmental and social initiatives on campus and demonstrating the intersectionality therein, we will provide a live example of the sustainability movement that is happening on campus.

Primary Contact:
Sky Stahl
stahls@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $8,000
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The University of Washington prides itself in being a world leader in sustainability and has a mission aimed towards excelling students to become leaders in the community, state and the nation. At Washington Rowing, our goals stem from the university; we pride ourselves in the pursuit of excellence, starting with our athletics and extending it to our academics and professional lives. As one of the university's oldest sports and one of the oldest intercollegiate sports in the country, Washington Rowing strives to continue our long-standing tradition of excellence by becoming leaders rather than reactionaries in every aspect of our lives. The next step in our pursuit of excellence is to reduce our environmental impact and extend the notion of creating a more sustainable sport to the rowing community across the country. Furthermore, to educate the Seattle community about Pure Watercraft and its benefit to all users of our city’s waterways. Washington Rowing is requesting a grant from UW CFS to take the first step towards a more sustainable sport and community. With a CFS grant Washington Rowing can purchase a Pure Watercraft outboard motor and outfit a coaching launch with all electric power. Pure Watercraft is a Seattle based start-up company eager to reduce the impact of small gasoline-burning watercraft on the environment and rowing is a perfect example. Washington Rowing’s fleet burns thousands of gallons of gasoline a year and is docked regularly for charging throughout the day. The new outboard would prevent the burning of thousands of gallons of gasoline and the release of thousands of pounds of CO2 over its lifetime. More importantly, it would demonstrate our program’s and our school’s commitment to a more sustainable future and the support of a local company. To adhere to and advance our mission, our goal is to be community leaders in developing environmental sustainability for the sport of rowing. With UW CFS we can achieve that goal and educate the rowing community around the country about the benefits of electric outboards.

Primary Contact:
Weston Brown
brownweston@gmail.com
Amount Awarded:
 $3,900
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed
Primary Contact:
Talia Haller, Green Greek Director
haller3@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2017-2018
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Grounds Management is releasing beneficial insects throughout campus. This is a step we are adding to our Integrated Pest Management strategy that could help us reduce non organic methods. This will help grounds management increase our sustainability and improve the campus aesthetically.

Primary Contact:
Michael Bradshaw
mjb34@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Completed
Primary Contact:
Cassie Maylor
cmmaylor@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $500
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

We believe that art is essential to the activism surrounding sustainability movements and often functions as a catalyst for engagement. In our search for a band, we focused our efforts on finding local UW student ensembles. Supporting the sustainability of the arts on the UW campus was an important value that helped aided our selection. We also considered that finding the right group could could help establish a precedent for collaboration for future events like the SustainableUW Festival. From the groups we looked at, our committee has identified the UW’s Improvised Music Project as an outstanding student organization that upholds many of our values and goals.

The IMP is an RSO run by Jazz students. The group focuses on bringing together musicians seeking to both advance their artwork and education. The IMP gives students an opportunity to: collaborate with each other, perform their music at local venues, play in a variety of organized ensembles, and to learn from professionals brought in by the RSO.

Primary Contact:
Christian Laush
ecoreps@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $999
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Not only did Keraton attracted 8000 people last year but also had 13 vendors selling food. As a result, there is a substantial amount of waste produced. This year, Keraton is aiming to attract 10000 people. Surely, there will be more waste produced than last year. Therefore ISAUW will implement the ‘Keraton Going Green’ effort, which will ensure the reduction of waste production by vendors as well as the overseeing of waste sorting in the recycling and compost bins locations.

Primary Contact:
Kevin Masman
kevin.masman@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $17,000
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

Our project will pair-up UW food waste with local non-profit agencies in need through the design of a website that would facilitate the logistics and transportation of food waste from UW Food Services without having so many food products go to compost. Over the course of two quarters, Irini Spyridakis and Madison Holbrook will lead a team of 15 undergraduate and masters students. The team will research, design, build, and implement a responsive website for UW HFS Dining facilities to connect with local non-profit organizations. 

The main education and outreach goal is to raise awareness and educate the UW community about food waste and recovery. This project will bolster the sustainable achievements of the UW and serve as a model that could be implemented outside the community. We hope to empower our team of students to see themselves as experienced food recovery ambassadors who will further sustainable practices in future education, jobs, and communities, exemplifying the motto, “each one, teach one.”

 

 

Primary Contact:
Irini Spyridakis
irinis@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $100,000
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

UW-Solar is a student-led organization working with architecture firm Perkins+Will to install building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) and rooftop photovoltaics (PV) on the new Life Sciences Building of the University of Washington Seattle campus. The intended installation will serve both as an ancillary source of electrical power and a heat gain control measure on the building envelope. The BIPV panels will also be highly visible and showcase UW as a steward in sustainable construction. The rooftop PV will generate substantial clean energy and reduce the building's carbon footprint.

 

 

Primary Contact:
Alexander Ratcliff
alexr529@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $25,000
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

Cycle Pack is a bicycle library program that encourages bicycle ridership by providing long term bicycle rentals to UW students. Unlike bike share, which provide short term bicycle rentals between two hubs, and regular bike rentals, which facilitate daily or weekend use, a long term rental gives users an experience of bicycle ownership and the ability to commute by bicycle. The experience of ownership teaches users about the various ways a bicycle can fit into one’s everyday life as well as the responsibility that stems from maintaining and preventing bicycle theft. It is our view that providing an experience of bicycle ownership is the best way to demonstrate the value of a bicycle to a user and foster a desire to purchase a bicycle after completing the program. It is our goal to do more than just increase bicycle ridership on and to campus. We hope that providing this service will encourage sustainable cycling habits that persist into the rest of a user’s life.

For details on the bikes, rental prices, and application process and submission go here.

Primary Contact:
Cole Laush
colelaush22@hotmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $70,000
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

This project proposes the production of molded biodegradable pots to replace agricultural and horticultural plastic pots on campus. These pots will be made using switchgrass and brewer’s spent grain, both of which are readily available to the Paper and Bioproducts Center located in the basement of Bloedel Hall; a floor layout of this lab can be found attached to this proposal in Figure 2. The Paper and Bioresource Center focuses on conversion of raw bio-materials into pulp, paper, products, and fuels; making it a synergistic fit for this new sustainable molding technology. A current sustainability issue is resolved by fabricating these pots with up to 60% spent grains, preventing these grains entering landfill. Currently, a team of 5 Bioresource Science and Engineering (BSE) students has been established to begin production of these biodegradable pots, with the intent of creating a precedent of sustainable products on the UW campus. Our long-term goal is to provide the campus with sustainable alternatives to disposable plastics across campus organizations, research facilities, and classrooms wherever possible. 

Primary Contact:
Kaitlin Tighe
ktighe@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $4,050
Funding Received:
 2012-2013
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The K-12 Education for Sustainability Student Outreach Coordinators will be based in the office in the Center for Experiential Learning and Diversity.   The Coordinators’ primary project goals will be to diversity and increase the overall number of students and community partners engaged in K-12 environmental education and ensure continued and expanded opportunities for UW students to promote sustainability through K-12 outreach and education.

The total proposed cost of the Student Outreach Coordinators is $4,050.  This includes funding for: 1) one hourly undergraduate student at $11 per hour for 10 hours/week during Winter 2013 (10 weeks) and 5 hours/week for Spring 2013 (10 weeks) and 2) one hourly graduate students at $15 per hour for 8 hours/week during Winter 2013 and Spring 2013 for a total of 20 weeks.

This project addresses the importance of raising the public’s awareness and environmental ethic to achieve optimum environmental impact through inclusive, high quality K-12 environmental education efforts.  By diversifying, strengthening and expanding K-12 environmental education opportunities, this project will develop the environmental ethic of both a diverse population of UW students and K-12 students.

Pipeline’s Environmental Alternative Spring Break (EASB) program began in 2006 with 4 undergraduate students and one school partner, the Quileute Tribal School in La Push, WA.  In 2009, a Mary Gates Leadership Scholarship recipient worked with Pipeline staff to add one additional school partner, Brewster Elementary in Brewster, WA, so 10 undergraduate students now participate in EASB annually.  There is growing interest to develop more school partnerships since the program has to turn away many interested applicants each year since the demand exceeds the number of participant spots available.  The EASB program has historically been heavily administered by Pipeline Project staff and could greatly benefit from a self-sustaining student-led model to increase the capacity of the Pipeline project to not only ensure the sustainability of this program for future students but also to spur innovation and expansion.

Metrics analyzed for over the last 6 years reveal that since 2006, the Pipeline Project’s K-12 environmental and sustainability education service-learning seminars have enrolled 126 students who have served in 15 different K-12 schools or community organizations.  Due to increased enrollment in this service-learning seminar, it will be important to cultivate new community partnerships with a K-12 environmental education focus.  While no formal quantitative analysis has been administered concerning student demographics, observations and informal discussion demonstrate that Pipeline’s environmental education initiatives largely attract white and more affluent student populations, a pattern that is reflective of the larger environmental movement in the United States.

If we do not receive funds from CSF through this grant, we will be able to sustain our current programming efforts and relationships with community partners, but we will not be able to create new partnerships, nor increase our outreach to students or develop new strategies to increase the diversity of UW students engaged in K-12 education for sustainability efforts.  In addition, CSF funding will ensure the long term sustainability of the Environmental ASB program as attention will be given to document and develop the infrastructure for a self-sustaining student leadership program model.

The Pipeline Project’s website can be found at http://expd.uw.edu/pipeline.  The Pipeline Project is led by Director Christine Stickler and Associate Director Francesca Lo.  Four returning Environmental Alternative Spring Break (EASB 2013) undergraduate participants – Mariah Doll, Jessie Huang, Laura Pfeifer, and Max Sugarman – are currently serving as Team Leaders for EASB 2013.  Samanatha Dolan, a graduate student, is currently facilitating the Winter 2013 K-12 Education for Sustainability service-learning seminar.  

Primary Contact:
Christine Stickler
castick@uw.edu

http://www.ce.washington.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $32,000
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Construction Materials Laboratory at More Hall is an instruction laboratory where undergraduate students of the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) and the College of Built Environments (CBE) study different construction materials and gain hands-on experience with mixing portland cement concrete. In order to achieve the desired strength and durability of the concrete, the concrete structures are cured in a fog room adjacent to the CML. Curing is a process of providing adequate moisture, temperature, and time to allow the concrete to achieve the desired strength and durability.  The fog room produces ultra-fine water droplets in the air that is closely monitored by a programmable system that controls the humidity and temperature setting.   Currently, the prescribed relative humidity condition in the fog room is ensured by continuously sprinkling potable water to the room via two sprinkler heads with an average rate of 1200 gallons/day. By proposing to install a rainwater collection and purification system in and adjacent to the laboratory space, we seek to provide CML with a supplementary, sustainable source of water for fog room use. This will result in reducing the laboratory’s tap water consumption by an average of 600 gallons/day. The quantifiable economic benefit equals $1,800.00 per year in water consumption.  In addition to the economic benefits, the proposed project will serve as a campus wide educational tool and give University of Washington students, faculty and staff the possibility to learn more about innovative use of sustainable water management practices.

Primary Contact:
Heta Kosonen
hetak@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $3,000
Funding Received:
 2012-2013
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The UW Real Food Challenge (RFC) is a registered student organization (RSO) seeking the involvement of the University community to increase the volume of locally and responsibly sourced foods available for sale in campus dining and retail facilities. The Real Food Challenge is also the name of national organization that is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit. The University of Washington student group is a concordant body of this organization.

To effectively bring about change in the campus food system and to recognize where each university stands in regards to how much “real food” (ecologically-sound, locally based, fair, and humane food) it provides to its consumers, the Real Food Challenge has developed a web application called the Real Food Calculator. Universities and businesses may use this utility to gauge the percentage of real food they procure.

The students of RFC at UW are using the Calculator utility this academic quarter to assess the amount of real food that HFS purchased during the months of January and February 2013. This amount will be quantified as a percentage of the annual food procurement budget. We are requesting a grant of $3000 to fund future Calculator work after the completion of the spring project. To be explicit, this grant would support the Calculator project of 2014, ensuring its endurance as an annual assessment. The Calculator is an entirely student-driven project that relies on the support of HFS Vending Manager Micheal Meyering. Extensive outreach and educational efforts are required to engage the student population in the immediate campus food system, and we believe this grant and responsible spending will allow us to have a larger presence and impact on campus.

Using the results of the Calculator audit we are conducting this spring, we can provide an analysis of where UW stands in the greater national food system. If our Calculating work is continued as an annual institutional assessment, the progress reflected in the results can be charted and used by the University not only to improve its own food procurement standard, but the national standard as well. We intend to formalize the results of the Calculator and use them to propose the Campus Commitment. The commitment is a food sustainability policy that commits institutions of higher education to an increase in real food procurement.

Check out the complete assessment here!

Primary Contact:
Dani Gilmour
danigilm@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $7,500
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

UW-Solar is a student-led organization working with architecture firm Perkins+Will to install building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) on the new Life Sciences Building of the University of Washington Seattle campus. The intended installation will serve both as an ancillary source of electrical power and a heat gain control measure on the building envelope. The BIPV panels will also be highly visible and showcase UW as a steward in sustainable construction.

Primary Contact:
Stefanie Young
sy10@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $9,220
Funding Received:
 2011-2012
Project Status:
 Inactive

Executive Summary

The purpose of this project is to accomplish the following goals:

  1. Improve the quality of surface water flowing from the UW campus
  2. Advance student engagement in stormwater design, implementation, and education
  3. Provide a demonstration for UW engineering and transportation services in addressing stormwater issues

In order to accomplish these objectives, HSS has divided them into two phases. Phase One comprises of “Feasibility Study” to be conducted in the Winter quarter of 2012.

Proposed Project (Phase One): 

HSS proposes a feasibility study to develop a stormwater design and identify the key bureaucratic paths for implementing a stormwater treatment bioswale. Through this process, HSS will develop several alternatives (three to four) for a bioswale, assessing each alternative’s feasibility in implementation, educational capacity, and cost. 
HSS has collaborated with UW staff in Transportation Services, Engineering Services, and Capital Projects Office in identifying sites that improve water quality, are visible to the UW student-body, and advance green infrastructure opportunities on the UW campus. Sites that fulfill this criteria have been identified 
in and around UW campus parking lots.

Proposed Project (Phase Two): 

Phase Two will fund the implementation and construction of designs outlined in Phase One. HSS plans to finalize the expected construction costs in Phase One, but we anticipate the cost of construction for an improved stormwater facility to be approximately $50,000- $60,000.

Primary Contact:
Patrick Green
ptgreen@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $11,379
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Floating wetlands are an emerging green technology that mimic naturally occurring wetlands by using floating frames as a base upon which to grow native wetland plants.  Across the globe, floating wetlands have been deployed with positive results in carbon sequestration; reduction of metals and pollutants; climate adaptation and water temperature mitigation; habitat renewal; and shoreline protection and beautification. 

The UW Floating Wetlands Project looks to adapt this technology to the Puget Sound ecosystem for use in the shorelines adjacent to the University of Washington in order to expand wetland vegetation, rebuild salmonid habitat, and mitigate pollutants.  Through engagement across a number of UW departments including Landscape Architecture, Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, Environmental Science and Forestry, and Engineering, as well as outreach to institutional, city, and county permitting agencies, this phase of the project will establish the feasibility of floating wetland implementation along the UW shoreline and create an actionable plan for future deployment.  

Primary Contact:
Kasia Keeley
gflab@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $75,000
Funding Received:
 2011-2012
Project Status:
 Inactive

Executive Summary

Proposed Project (Phase Two): 

Phase Two funds the implementation and construction of designs outlined in Phase One. As of April 2nd, 2012 the design review process of this project is still underway. Specifically, the four alternative designs developed by HSS are being reviewed by a committee of stakeholders, including Kristine Kenney (UW Landscape Architect), Howard Nakase (UW Grounds Shop), Jim Morin (UW Engineering Services), Peter Dewey (UW Transportation Services). This team advises HSS on aesthetic, engineering, and construction feasibility and assists in obtaining approval of the design.

Because the design review is currently taking place, HSS cannot propose a total cost of the project. In
contrast, HSS proposes a cost limit that guides its design development process.

This project accomplishes the following goals: 

  1. Improve the quality of surface water flowing from the UW campus; 
  2. Advance student engagement in stormwater design, implementation, and education; 
  3. Provide a demonstration for UW engineering and transportation services in addressing stormwater issues. 

Husky Sustainable Storms (HSS) requested $9,220 in the first round of CSF funding for 2012 to implement a feasibility study for a bioswale that remediates stormwater from a UW parking lot. HSS developed four alternatives for a bioswale, assessing each alternative’s feasibility in implementation, educational capacity, and cost. Phase One is scheduled for completion in mid-April 2012.

Primary Contact:
Patrick Green
ptgreen@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $960
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Tribal Water Security Colloquium (TWSC) was hosted by the Water is Life: water, health and “ecosystem services” class taught by Dr. Clarita Lefthand-Begay in the Department of American Indian Studies. Undergraduate students enrolled in this class collaborated by picking, inviting and hosting leaders to speak about water. In the TWSC we focused our attention on creating a space where we could learn directly from influential tribal leaders whose communities are at the forefront of climate change and environmental challenges. In addition, we made a strong effort to privilege the voices and experiences of these community members. Due to industrial pollution, storm water pollution, and colonization, tribal nations face varying levels of water insecurity which has implications to food security, and cultural integrity. Globally and nationally, tribal water security issues have not received the attention needed to ensure safe water for all tribal members in the United States. In the TWSC, we aimed to bring awareness to these issues and to provide an opportunity for our audiences to hear directly from leaders. In order to highlight these shortcomings, and to understand these issues as experienced by community members, we hosted this Colloquium.

The Colloquium was held on May 13, 2016 and included a line-up of speakers who presented about the implications of the coal terminal permit at Cherry Point, efforts to reclaiming sacred waters, altered waterways resultant of climate change, restoration efforts and the cultural significance of water to tribal culture. In these presentations we learned about the significance of self-determination to address water security needs and how communities are working to address these problems. There were also 6 student poster presentations about uranium contamination in water, Elwha Dam removal, the Gold King Mine spill, fish consumption rate debate in Washington state, tribal fishing rights and clean water home delivery. Over 70 people attended the event, which was well above our expectation. In addition, the conversations inspired our audience to consider the water issues occurring in North America and to consider ways to achieve tribal water security. If you are interested in keeping up with this event over the years, please visit our website.

Primary Contact:
Clarita Lefthand-Begay
clarita@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $43,603
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

UW Grounds Management and UW Facilities Construction (Facility Services) seeks $43,603.00 to obtain the necessary infrastructure to augment the salvage wood program which creates products from trees that are removed from the campus-wide landscape. By keeping the tree material on campus, money is saved in disposal cost, less energy is used in waste transportation, some of the asset value of the tree is retained by being incorporated into campus projects and the investment made into that tree over time is preserved, especially if the final product becomes a permanent feature on campus.

The University of Washington Seattle campus grounds management staff manages about 10,000 trees. At some point in time these trees will be removed as a result of natural decline or death, due to disease issues, as a preventative measure to avoid potential hazards, or as part of a construction/capital project. Grounds Management is charged with the task of protecting campus assets in the landscape. Campus trees are a significant asset in both actual value and investment over time. In 2008 the total annual benefits provided by tree on campus was valued at $736,385.00 and the total annual cost of those trees were $265,100.00. (Vale, Kava. 2011. University of Washington Seattle Campus Forest Resources Analysis. Master’s Project, University of Washington Botanic Gardens. Seattle Washington.) The net benefit in dollar value is then approximately half a million dollars, in which a portion is lost when a tree in cut up and removed from campus. Facilities Maintenance & Construction seeks to obtain and build infrastructure that increases the capacity and safety for staff to process tree material in ways that protect University assets and investments related to our campus trees. The salvage wood program is a collaborative partnership between Facility Services Grounds Management and Facilities Construction. The processed wood material will be used for student, faculty and administration projects, with opportunities available for the College of built Environments programs and the needs related to CPO& Facilities Construction projects.

As trees are removed from the campus landscape and are incorporated into campus-wide projects, the story of that tree (its narrative) will hopefully become part of the project narrative. Through education and outreach efforts, the perception of trees on campus and urban trees in general will change to reflect the understanding that they have value beyond their time in the ground. Outreach and education through partners in the College of Built Environments, School of Art, Art History, and Design, and the UW Botanical Garden and Arboretum will also create opportunities for telling the story of a tree beyond the day to day campus audience. From conference tables to outdoor structures, wood from campus trees one day could be found all throughout campus each with a story, a story of a tree that grew on campus and still lives there in a tangible way.

Learn more here.

Primary Contact:
Daniel Sorensen
dgs7@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $67,967
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

The SER-UW Native Plant Nursery is a student-run nursery established in 2013 that grows native species to provide a source of plants for restoration projects for the UW campus and UW students.  The nursery has spent the last year, with money from the CSF grant, expanding and building a new hoop house to house all of our plants.  Currently, we provide native plants to student-run restoration projects like Whitman Walk, Kincaid ravine, and UW restoration classes like ESRM 473.  We are working to also provide native species to UW Grounds Management to increase the native plants grown on campus.  We have two plant sales to the public per year—one in the Spring and one in the Fall—to reach out to the wider community.

This next year, we are increasing our outreach efforts by writing curriculum about native plants and nurseries and teaching classes at our work parties and hosting evening classes that are open to both students and the public.  Through our classes, we hope to reach and help educate more people about the role native plant nurseries play in restoration.  We are also conducting a series of small experiments and researching to help write a management plan for the nursery that will build the foundation for running an efficient and effective native plant nursery that can provide plants to students and on-campus projects. Our goal is to be a sustainable source of native plants as well as provide education opportunities for our community and our campus.

Primary Contact:
Mary-Margaret Greene
mmgreene@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $10,521
Funding Received:
 2012-2013
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Our project is aimed at wastewater capture and reuse, from the reverse osmosis (R/O) unit in the BB-Wing of the medical sciences building. Through a series of storage tanks and pumps this wastewater will have a second use in the cooling tower located in the same room. Our project will reduce total water consumed in the building by repurposing a waste product as a usable resource.

In the larger picture this project represents a rather modest savings, however, reducing consumption of water lessens the impact on our overall water infrastructure and can be considered an adaptation strategy should the predicted impacts of climate change occur, including but not limited to reduced snow pack and water availability in the Pacific Northwest.

We are requesting $10,521 for this project. We predict this investment could be recouped in as little as 4-8 years. Based on measurements over the last two years this project may save between $1,250-$2,500 per year at the current water rate of $15 per hundred cubic feet (ccf). We hope this project can be a model for potential future projects in buildings with a similar setup. However, due to the structure of the University budgeting system we were not able to propose a loan or attempt to roll the savings into additional projects.

We have been working with Dennis Garberg, maintenance supervisor for the Health Sciences building zone, along with John Leaden, a retired facilities employee, and Michael Flanagan, Analyst for Finance and Business Services at Facilities Services. 

Primary Contact:
Duncan Clauson
clausd@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $34,365
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

This is a student initiated project to decrease the use of Seattle City water in the UW greenhouse for single pass irrigation purposes. Fertilized and clear irrigation water in the existing 14,000 sq ft greenhouse exceeds 127,000 gpy. Estimates of water use for the new greenhouse will be similar or greater than the current greenhouse.The design utilizes redirection of the new Life Sciences Lab building (LSB) RO/DI system reject water for use in the greenhouse plant irrigation system.The RO/DI reject water would otherwise pass directly to drain (20% of supply).The RO/DI system reject water was demonstrated to be acceptable for irrigation of the greenhouse plants; and therefore, suitable as a source to decrease demand from the greenhouse irrigation use.There are quite a number of lab buildings on the UW campuses with similar RO/DI systems which could have the reject water redirected for other purposes.

The greenhouse hosts thousands of K-12 students and their teachers annually for tours of the plant collections.Similarly, 40% of all UW incoming students pass through Biology courses and tour the greenhouse as part of their course work.Our intent is to include this water saving feature as part of the greenhouse tours to illustrate and encourage others to think of water conservation via multiple use approaches.  The project will involve continuing student involvement since tours are led by Biology undergraduate and graduate students who will explain the water reuse project during tours.The LSB media wall in the 1st floor lobby will also include illustrations and information on the sustainability features of the new building and greenhouse, and student input toward making the most impactful presentation will be very helpful.Similarly, the LSB design and construction team welcomes student involvement toward internship-like participation with professionals for design, construction, commissioning, and operation of the new system.  UW Urban Infrastructure Lab (UIL) and UW Civil and Environmental Engineering are interested in participation of their students as well as the UW College of Built Environments Integrated Design Lab (IDL).

*Original Full Proposal and Budget found in Full Proposal tab*

Primary Contact:
Roert Goff
rwgoff5@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $8,120
Funding Received:
 2010-2011
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Project: Zimtervention will establish Zimride, an online ridesharing system, as a viable option to single-occupancy vehicle(SOV) trips to and from the UW campus. This will achieve goals of reducing campus-related carbon emissions and promoting sustainable behavior change.

The principle component of the project is to fund a new student position, Campus Rideshare Coordinator (CRC) to:

  1. establish a critical mass of UW Zimride users; and
  2. integrate UW Zimride into institutions and campus life

The CRC will work with Commuter Services during Spring 2011 and the 2011-2012 academic year, part-time at 10 hrs/week. This will fall under an undergraduate Student Assistant job classification, with hourly wages of $13 and ineligible for additional benefits.

This is the second phase of a graduate student project through the Program on the Environment’s Environmental Management Certificate (EMC). To date, UW Zimride has been introduced on campus with one of the most successful launches in program history, and the EMC students have begun implementation of a strategy for changing SOV behavior,relying on evidence-based principles of community-based social marketing and theories of sustainable behavior change.

Additional work is needed, however, to establish a critical mass of users and integrate Zimride into UW life as a trusted and well-known mode of transportation. As such, the role of the CRC will be to continue to implement and expand upon the community-based social marketing campaign. The CRC will also work to create institutional legacies, such as including Zimride into new student and staff orientation, promoting it for travel during academic breaks, and incorporating it into other Commuter Service programs. In short, the CRC will work to integrate UW Zimride into campus life.

Primary Contact:
Chris Hoffer
hofferc@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

This project will be to design and plant a hedgerow along the southern boundary of the UW-CUH Farm; it will be composed of woody perennial plant species that will act primarily as pollinator habitat, providing forage, shelter, and most importantly, overwintering habitat for insects. By installing suitable habitat for local pollinating insects, this project will both enhance the biodiversity of the surrounding Union Bay Natural Area and benefit student food production at the UW Farm by potentially increasing the yield of vegetables grown and the genetic diversity (stress-tolerance) of the crops. Habitats will also provide a home for other, non-pollinating species that will benefit the farm such as parasitic wasps or flies that kill pest insects.

UW students that work and volunteer at the farm will have the opportunity to help plant the vegetation over the coming year.  They will learn how to care for the habitats into future years: primarily trimming and maintenance of perennial shrubs, removing weeds that grow into the area, and planting replacement plants as necessary. Teens and young adults from Seattle Youth Garden Works will also be involved in the installation and future maintenance of the pollinator habitats. Any future work on the site will require minimal effort by volunteers; after the initial installation is completed the hedgerow will be self-sustaining.

Primary Contact:
Nicolette Neumann
nneumann@uw.edu

UW Real Food Challenge
Amount Awarded:
 $2,000
Funding Received:
 2010-2011
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The UW Housing and Food Services (HFS) spends $8.5 million annually on food from 40 vendors. This is a huge fiscal sum that has a major impact on Washington State food economy, especially producer and process sectors. HFS currently lacks clear measurable definitions and standards to qualify “sustainable” and “local” food. When our RSO, Real Food Challenge (RFC), conducted a preliminary review of HFS purchases, we found ambiguity in definitions of local, when Coca Cola products were labeled locally based because processing plants are in King County. This audit will refine standards qualifying foods as local, ecologically sound, fair and humane, and will help clarify which specific food items HFS purchases really are local and sustainable. This will address another concern: lacking student awareness of the magnitude of the impact UW and HFS have on the food economy. Customers are not offered many transparent choices or sufficient information to eat locally or sustainably on campus.

The project purpose is to work with HFS long-term to improve food purchasing from sources that are locally based, ecologically sound, humane to animals, and fair to humans, in all points of the food value chain. Another objective is to increase student awareness of local sustainable food purchasing and options on campus. It is essential to include students in this process to improve student engagement with HFS staff and to help voice student opinion and strategize marketing of campus local sustainable food.

This project is the preliminary step to address these concerns. We will first conduct an audit of current HFS food purchases modeled after the Real Food Calculator, see realfoodchallenge.org/calculator. This audit will help identify which foods currently purchased are local and sustainable, and opportunities to improve. Creating this measure and producing a statistic of percent sustainable food at UW will give HFS and RFC a number for advertising and to improve upon in the future.

Primary Contact:
Samantha E Ryder
sameliza@uw.edu

UW Farm
Amount Awarded:
 $22,310
Funding Received:
 2013-2014
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The University of Washington Farm (UW), a registered student organization, would like to build a greenhouse at our Center for Urban Horticulture site on campus. The UW Farm is partnering with the University of Washington chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) to plan and implement this project. In order to build a greenhouse, the UW Farm will need to level the ground at the Center for Urban Horticulture site, run electricity to the greenhouse, and equip it with benches and supplies for spring and winter vegetable production. Additionally, the UW Farm plans to install heated benches for seedling growth.

The UW Farm is currently renting a small space at the Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH) greenhouse at a prohibitively high cost for only two months of the year. Building a greenhouse at the UW Farm will allow for a more flexible and productive planting plan, an extended growing season, and an overall increase in yearly production. A large portion of crops grown at the UW Farm is sold to Cultivate, the District Market and various other HFS locations. Extending the growing season with the greenhouse will allow the Farm to provide locally and sustainably grown produce to dining halls, restaurants and grocery stores on campus for a larger majority of the school year.

The EWB students will build the greenhouse from scratch. This will allow students to learn how to build a sustainable structure from the ground up, rather than putting together a pre-made kit.  The EWB students anticipate that it will be about $500 cheaper to build the greenhouse from scratch than using a kit. Additionally, the EWB students have decided to hire an engineer to run electricity to the greenhouse. The UW Farm will grade the site ourselves.

The student engineers and farm leaders will work in tandem, along with help from drop in volunteers and service learners, to build the greenhouse and develop a growing system. Each quarter, the UW Farm hosts between student service learners through the Carlson Center, farm leadership positions and the farm internship class.  Additionally, this grant will fund a greenhouse intern for a full growing season following the completion of the greenhouse. Professor Jennifer Ruesink, a biology professor at the UW, teaches the farm internship class on campus and has agreed to oversee the greenhouse intern. The EWB students are working under the advising of Professor Mark Benjamin, a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Washington.

The UW Farm is requesting $22,310.00 to complete this project. The total cost did increase slightly from our original estimate however we were able to secure the tools for the greenhouse through other means.

Please see the chart below for a full breakdown of the costs. The total costs listed in the chart include an estimated ten percent sales tax and delivery fees. There will be no additional cost for utilities for the greenhouse or for the grading of the greenhouse site. 

Primary Contact:
Sarah Geurkink
sgeurk@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The UW Center for Communication & Civic Engagement’s Rethinking Prosperity project organized the Next System Teach-In in partnership with the UW Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies. Rethinking Prosperity is an initiative that seeks to identify and communicate economic models that work for more people, within planetary boundaries. It emerged from a seminar of undergraduate seniors in Communication. The Teach-In took place on April 25th, 2016 at Kane Hall. Students, faculty, alumni and community partners were represented on the panels at the Next System Teach-In, which addressed the following critical questions among others: How can the economy be equitable and environmentally sustainable? What local solutions can become models in a global system? What would real democracy look like? The whole discussion was recorded graphically and will be shared with the campus community. The University of Washington Next System Teach-In is part of a nationwide call to action to increase collaboration among teachers, learners, and movements for systemic change.

The objectives of the Teach-In are to launch a campus conversation on how environmental goals can be achieved through an economic system with sustainability at its core and to build a learning community to create solutions and build support for an economic and political system that can restore compatibility with the environment. Through this event and the connections that follow, students and student groups, faculty, and community partners working on systems change for environmental outcomes will be able to more easily connect and build momentum and awareness.

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Photo: Graphic Recording of the Teach-In Conversation

Primary Contact:
Caterina Rost
crost@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $59,730
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

Green Square: Where the Plants Are.

Through student-led innovation and design, the UW Tower Demonstration Garden team aspires to transform the Tower plaza by enhancing the appearance of the expansive red brick with an attractive oasis of green urban food production. The garden will demonstrate University of Washington's sustainability goals through an adaptive appropriation of urban space. With the traffic of visitors and staff at the UW Tower and high degree of public exposure from the adjacent Link light rail station, Green Square will represent the innovative mission of the University and the Campus Sustainability Fund to a broad audience.

Green Square will demonstrate the possibilities of urban food production and the co-benefits of greening underutilized urban spaces. The project will use design techniques to balance food production and aesthetics appropriate to the Tower environment while inspiring to the community to grow its own food. Similar in approach to parklets for streetscapes, Green Square will be a vibrant urban community space to relax in a refuge of planters, vertical green-screens, bench seating and gathering spaces. In addition to the ecological benefits that this project will produce (increased biodiversity, lowered urban heat island effect, improved water filtration, pollinator support, etc.), the garden will be an excellent model for the valuable role that intensive gardening can play in our community. The garden activities will not only offer educational volunteer opportunities for students and the local community, Green Square will also be a garden destination that can be organized to host attractive community events such as dinner gatherings, university ceremonies, garden parties, guest speakers, outdoor movies, and other innovative ideas.

Successful implementation of the Green Square Urban Garden Demonstration project will showcase the possibilities for environment-appropriate urban gardening, create an attractive community gathering space, highlight current garden design innovations, and exemplify the University of Washington’s dedication to sustainability.

Primary Contact:
Cheryl Wheeler
cherylwh@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $9,051
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Sustainable Stormwater Coordinator (SSC) position designates a SEFS research aide appointment to spread awareness about and physically improve stormwater treatment on campus. This is accomplished by investigating the current quantity and quality of campus stormwater, analyzing a suite of suitable water management tools, and building a collaborative student-faculty-administration approach to this pressing issue. In sum, continuation of this project seeks concrete and actionable runoff strategies, informed by water quality testing of discharges from parking lots, rooftops and sports fields.

Presently, the SSC has made significant progress in advancing the responsible handling of our fresh water resource at UW as each of the supported projects/endeavors has benefited from assistance with some or all of the following roles/responsibilities: funding identification, program development, design, materials acquisition, water quality testing, documentation, facilitation of permitting, facilitation of contracted consultations, site visits, and facilitation of administrative collaboration for multiple projects/endeavors.

Despite this progress in establishing a baseline of momentum, the importance of continuing the SSC position is urgent. Funding from other sources has not been secured and the potential discontinuation of this position would hamper progress and threaten follow-through on many of the projects listed above. The position has increased visibility and awareness of the CSF by connecting promising student led projects to the CSF. In so doing, a strong network of projects has an aggregate effect of success. These projects are all linked and supportive of one another, leading to a tight knit web of sustainability.

The SSC position is overseen by hydrology Professor Susan Bolton and the School of Environmental and Forest Sciences. It consults with campus Environmental Engineer David Ogrodnik, Engineer James Morin, Landscape Architect Kristine Kenney, Environmental and Land Use Compliance Officer Jan Arntz, and Grounds Manager Howard Nakase.

$9105 is requested to continue the SSC position, water quality testing and analysis, and outreach and education through December 2015.

Primary Contact:
Matthew Schwartz
mateos@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $2,000
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Inactive

Executive Summary

Labs account for over 20% of all space on campus. Nitrile lab gloves are a significant source of waste produced in labs across all departments. A recent waste audit concluded that gloves are the second largest source of waste in campus labs. UW Sustainability and UW Recycling propose a pilot program that would recycle used, non-hazardous nitrile lab gloves that are currently being sent to the landfill. The gloves would be collected then shipped back to their producer, Kimberly-Clark, where they would be recycled into products like park benches and chairs.

Primary Contact:
Dalena Huynh
dhuynh93@uw.edu

Manastash Ridge Observatory website
Amount Awarded:
 $59,559
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Forty years after its dedication, it's time to make changes at the University’s Manastash Ridge Observatory (MRO) that reflect the realities of how we use the facility and respect our impact on natural resources, particularly our water and energy consumption. We propose to upgrade our bathrooms, kitchen, and lighting to conserve water and energy, and to build a rainwater catchment system and a solar energy system to reduce our reliance on outside water and power. The budget for this proposal is approximately $60,000, of which $49,000 is for the solar energy system.
MRO is a small observatory owned by the UW Astronomy department. Starting with the snow melt in the spring, and continuing until through mid-October, our undergraduate majors spend days learning how to use the thirty inch telescope and conducting independent research. Each summer about twenty students use the observatory and two classes of astro 101 students from Everett Community College enjoy an overnight field trip. Year round the Electrical Engineering Department’s Radar Remote Sensing Lab uses the facility remotely.

Built in 1972 on a ridge outside of Ellensburg, Washington, electrical and telephone utilities could be brought in, but it was far too remote for city water service. The standard bathroom and kitchen fixtures make us reliant on expensive water deliveries (~$800 each time). In addition each team brings up drinking water in jugs, so the delivered water is used almost entirely for flushing. We think it’s time to rebuild the observatories energy and water systems since the last forty years have seen the maturation of low-energy lighting and low-consumption water fixtures, as well the development of an industry focused on household solar power generation.

Our plan for conservation is to construct a kitchen that is not plumbed to running water, to replace the kitchen’s energy inefficient fridge and range as well as our original “maximum flush” toilets, and to install LED lighting for our working and living areas. In order to reduce the observatories overall environmental impact, and to demonstrate the possibilities for sustainable construction, we propose the construction of a rainwater catchment system and solar grid-tie system with battery reserve. The latter option could potentially make us the first observatory capable of solar-powered astronomical observations.

We project energy savings of $3000 per year, and during our busy summer season we project that the solar array could take the observatory entirely off the grid. The surplus energy we generate (approximately $200 worth) is sold back to the grid, savings we can return to the CSF. Updating our bathrooms and kitchen could completely replace the need for water deliveries, which would save $2400 per year and reduce CO2 emissions due to observatory operations by one ton annually.

Included in the budget are computer monitors to display and create awareness on campus of the sustainable energy equipment at MRO. Of course we will also compare ongoing electrical and water costs with previous years to quantify the system’s effectiveness.

Primary Contact:
Oliver Fraser
ojf@uw.edu

yeslerswamp.weebly.com
Amount Awarded:
 $65,000
Funding Received:
 2013-2014
Project Status:
 Inactive

Executive Summary

Update: This project is currently recruiting interns!

Our team is proposing a $65,000 construction project on the western shoreline of the Yesler Swamp lagoon to offer UW students and other visitors a unique wildlife observation platform.  The viewing platform will be called the “Yesler Swamp Trek Stop” (YSTS) and it will offer a permanent bird-watching post to rest, reflect, and interact with the different species that reside in wetland and swamp ecosystems around Lake Washington.  Our team has been hosting volunteer restoration events at the Yesler Swamp and documenting them on a website since October of 2013. (yeslerswamp.weebly.com)

The primary goals of this project are to:

  • Build a bird blind structure with an extremely low environmental footprint that adheres to green building specifications and communicates the importance of resource conservation.
  • Provide a unique and identifying landmark for the Yesler Swamp.
  • Provide an opportunity for the public to engage with the swamp and its biodiversity through interpretive signs (explaining the swamp ecosystem and services).
  • Provide an exceptional view of the swamp lagoon, Lake Washington and Mt. Rainier.
  • Provide an outdoor classroom for groups visiting the UW Center for Urban Horticulture.
  • Build a stronger connection between the Yesler Swamp and the well established Union Bay Natural Area (UBNA).
  • Raise awareness about the Yesler Swamp and the opportunities it presents for students and the greater Seattle community to actively engage with nature.
Primary Contact:
Tyler Licata
tlicata@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $35,000
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Ecological restoration efforts have been ongoing in Kincaid Ravine since the winter quarter of 2014.  The roughly 4 acre ravine located in the NE corner of campus was overgrown with invasive species, severely lacking in biodiversity and littered with trash when Martha Moritz (MEH ’14) began to plan restoration work to transform the ravine into an asset for the University and its surrounding community.  Over the two years since work began, myriad partnerships have developed around Kincaid Ravine that have led to high quality restoration work and continued plans to restore a healthy urban forest and enhance the campus connection with Kincaid Ravine for years to come. 

The student project management is now on its third master’s student and stakeholders include the Campus Sustainability Fund, Society for Ecological Restoration – UW Chapter, Office of the University Architect, UW Grounds, UW Restoration Ecology Network, EarthCorps and Stewardship Partners.  The wide array of project partners, and the time, money and energy already committed to restoration of Kincaid Ravine clearly demonstrates that this is a project destined to revitalize a neglected open space on campus while providing opportunities for student involvement.  There is much work still to be accomplished, but Kincaid Ravine is well on its way to becoming a healthy urban forest that not only provides ecological functions, but also opportunities for education, research and respite to those in and around the UW community.  

Primary Contact:
Dan Hintz
djhintz@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $980
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Can't make it in to the bike shop? Now, the bike shop can make it to you. The Mobile Maintenance Trailer allows the student mechanics at the ASUW Bike Shop to traverse this majestic campus with all the tools necessary to provide safety-check and quick tune-up services for any UW cyclists they encounter, free of charge. Everything a rusty bicycle could ever want, including an assortment of professional shop tools and an array of greases, degreasers, and lubricants, will be kept conveniently in a Surly long-bed trailer. Affixed to a trusty mountain bike, the mobile maintenance trailer will be ready for quick deployment.

The director of the mobile maintenance program will be one of the ASUW bike shop's student mechanics, and will organize and lead the bike shop's efforts in offering these events. 

Primary Contact:
Kris Skotheim
krisos@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

This project attempts to assess the feasibility of the University of Washington switching to an organic fertilizing system. The efficacy of biosolids, compost, and compost tea will be compared to the 8,000 pounds of chemical fertilizer that are annually applied to the campus lawns. 

Primary Contact:
Michael Bradshaw
mjb34@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

72 hours. 50 people. 12 schools. One World Changed!

Students from the Confronting Climate Change RSO are doing the exciting work of planning a student divestment convergence this spring 2016. Students from colleges across the northwest region will be coming together to strengthen the current fossil fuel divestment movement of the region.

The convergence is an important opportunity to build relationships and a strong community among a diverse set of people, who are just as passionate about the movement. Since most attendees are working with a similar purpose and advancing similar campaigns, they will share experiences and wisdom among peers to learn about and grow the climate justice movement. Trainers from organizations like Divestment Student Network, Race and Climate Justice Initiative, Rising Tide, Sightline Institute, and more will provide students with real insight on how they can make an impact in their community. Everyone will leave the convergence feeling empowered and able to make that impact. 

Primary Contact:
Ariana Winkler
arianaw2@uw.edu

UW Commuter Calculator
Amount Awarded:
 $30,000
Funding Received:
 2010-2011
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The proposed solution is a web-based tool which allows people toindicate the start and end-points of their commute and be provided with a “Commuter Profile” which gives them information about their commuting options including suggested routes (provided by Google Maps), estimated costs and benefits (money spent, calories burned, carbon emissions produced), resources available to UW commuters (e.g. U-PASS, bike facilities, ride-sharing resources, telecommuting policies, etc) and other motivational/inspirational information about the benefits of more environmentally friendly commuting options (e.g. profiles of commuters and expert advice offered by UW researchers and professionals). My vision is that a link to this tool would be provided to all students/faculty/staff to accompany the information that is sent out each quarter with the U-PASS (this is something that Transportation Services would help determine).

Purpose/Goal: To encourage low-impact commuting options by presenting information which conveys the message that these options are viable and achievable, and that they have significant health and monetary benefits as well as environmental ones.

Primary Contact:
Marilyn Ostergren
ostergrn@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $12,050
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

The UW Floating Wetlands Project has the opportunity to be a unique and exciting deployment of a new technology and, as such, educating the public to the function of these structures is a top priority. Phase II will allow for outreach to the public and greater UW student body through the built demonstration wetlands, accompanying signage, publicity, and expanded partnerships for monitoring and stewardship of the project.  Permit approval, final design, and construction of the structures are all implemented in Phase II, and involvement and support from organizations such as Save Union Bay Association will provide education and outreach far beyond our own reach to those within the greater UW community. Furthermore, this project will serve as an example for other Seattle water bodies and showcase UW’s leadership role in green technology and public/community partnerships.

Primary Contact:
Jackson Blalock
jackson.blalock@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $890
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

While built environments provide people and society with a lot of benefits, they also have significant influence on our environment. According to EPA, people in the United States spend more than 90% of their time in the built environments. However, many of them feel less engaged with buildings since they have limited access to the information and knowledge about the buildings such as how the air is heated within the buildings? Many studies show that this lack of engagement will influence how comfortable occupants feel and how much environmental awareness they have within buildings.

In order to increase engagement with buildings, we explored the potential of using visual arts to convey information in a creative way. During the internship last summer in UW Sustainability Office, we focused on Paccar Hall, one of the LEED certified buildings on the UW campus. The previous study has shown that students have limited information about how this green building saves resources. After reviewing diagrams and audit reports, I made infographics on Adobe Illustrators by visualizing its information in terms of water and electricity used in the building. We will print them out and exhibit inside the building in a creative way that allows students and faculty members to walk into the display and to learn about where the resource used in Paccar comes from and how the sustainable features contribute to its LEED certification. Foster School of Business agreed with the idea and approved this project that will further promote their efforts of sustainability.

Primary Contact:
Eric Liang
liangz4@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $10,185
Funding Received:
 2010-2011
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

The Biodiversity Green Wall, Edible Green Screen and Water Harvesting Demonstration Project is a two-Phase project to be constructed at Gould Hall. Phase I is a Feasibility and Design Study and Phase II is Construction and Documentation. This proposal is to fund Phase I with work to be completed by the end of August, 2011. A student Design Team will lead the project from initial building assessment through construction and monitoring stages. As a Demonstration Project, students will transform a blank concrete wall into a showcase of improved habitat that fosters diverse native species, a rainwater harvest method, local food production, and systems that reduce building heating and cooling energy demand that can help the campus reduce its carbon footprint and achieve its sustainability goals. A student-led design and construction effort, the Demonstration Project will provide numerous campus benefits as well as enhanced hands-on education opportunities.

The Biodiversity Green Wall, Edible Green Screen and Water Harvesting Demonstration Project will address several aspects of sustainability outlined in the UW Climate Action Plan including water recycling, sustainable land use planning, sustainable and local food production, energy and carbon footprint reduction and UW green marketing and branding efforts.

Primary Contact:
Leslie Batten
gflab@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $88,319
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

Our project involves replacing UW Mailing Service delivery trucks with five electric assist cargo bicycles complete with fully secured cargo boxes and trailers. This project entails restructuring our delivery methods to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the bicycles. Through incorporating our main operation in the Publications Building, located in the Southwest campus, as well as two additional satellite locations, we can utilize our resources to cut costs and emissions. We are currently running a light bicycle operation (until full project implementation) from one of those satellites which is located in the Communications Building on central campus. The other satellite will operate from our UW Tower Mailing Services platform. 

Primary Contact:
Kellan J. Kinney
kellkinn@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $63,670
Funding Received:
 2010-2011
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The purpose of this project is to complete the tree inventory database for the University of Washington Seattle campus and to develop a comprehensive urban forest management plan. The campus tree data currently available is incomplete and outdated, making management challenging and evaluation of tree resources impossible. The goals are to capture the ecosystem benefits provided by the urban forest, effectively manage the urban canopy, and provide a database resource for future research and educational opportunities. 

Primary Contact:
Kristine Kenney
kkenney@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $3,588
Funding Received:
 2011-2012
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center is actively working to develop service-learning opportunities related to sustainability and environmental stewardship on and off campus, particularly for students in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. The Center is applying for $3588 to fund a graduate or advanced undergraduate student to work as the sustainability service-learning liaison during Summer 2011. Please note, our letter of intent indicated a request for $3100.00. The slight increase is due to the increased number of weeks of funding needed to fund a student throughout the summer.

The current student service-learning liaison has seen success in the past two quarters, developing seven new partnerships with sustainability focused organizations, as well as starting a collaborative relationships with the Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability Office and the UW Farm. Funding from the CSF would enable the Carlson Center to keep the current momentum that has developed this academic year towards sustainability focused service-learning opportunities. The student will take a leadership role in implementing three concurrent goals that will build the Carlson Center’s capacity to offer service-learning opportunities to students in the STEM disciplines:

Goal 1. Develop and expand partnerships with local non-profit organizations that address sustainability issues. The Carlson Center already has long-standing relationships with numerous environmentally focused organizations. In order to support an increased number of students involved in service-learning, it is important to develop opportunties at local organizations that will offer students diverse opportunities to volunteer in the community. It is our hope that students in the STEM disciplines will be able to bring different skill sets to the organizations than traditional service-learners have previously. The student will serve as a way for local environmentally focused organizations to connect with the University and for them to be aware of the sustainability efforts happening at UW currently.

Goal 2. Identify outreach and community engagement activities already occuring on campus, particularly in the STEM fields. Many programs on campus offer outreach to K-12 students in the form of assemblies, field trips, or more extensive summer programs. In order to better understand what types of programs are being offered to the community by UW, we plan to reach out to faculty members running these programs. We also plan to discuss the possibility of incorporating service-learning into the programs or related courses taught by the faculty members.

Goal 3. Build relationships with on campus entities that are dedicated to improving environmental awareness and sustainable practices at UW. Among the many groups working to improve campus sustainability, we have identified the Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability Office and the Campus Sustainability Fund campus groups that are crafting a campus culture that is environmentally conscious. We hope to partner with these and other student groups across campus to provide students participating in service-learning opportunities to make a positive impact on campus sustainability.

Goal 4. Improve outreach efforts to sustainability focused Registered Student Organizations (RSO’s). Student groups across campus are demonstrating dedication to diverse issues in sustainability. We already have partnerships with various student groups, such as WashPIRG and the UW Farm. By connecting with more student groups, we hope to develop additional on-campus service-learning and volunteer opportunities and also link these groups with the environmental organizations in the broader Seattle community.

The new student liaison will address the goals listed above using the following strategies during Summer 2011:

Strategy 1: Develop Partnerships. The new student liaison will reach out to the organizations listed by the current liaison as organizations that would be suitable for service-learning partnerships, as well as research other potential organizations. This will involve site visits to organizations across Seattle to discuss the goals of the organizations and ways that students could provide support through service- learning. Specific organizations to reach out to include Sustainable Seattle, Sustainable Northeast Seattle, and Environment Washington.

Strategy 2: Identify Campus Activities. The current liaison has developed a list of summer outreach programs conducted by faculty in the STEM disciplines. Over the summer, the new student liaison will contact the leaders in these programs to learn more about what they offer to students in Seattle and also determine if service-learners could participate in the program during the academic year.

Strategy 3: Build Relationships with Campus Offices. The Carlson Center hopes to host a service-learning round table event during the Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability Office’s “Sustainability Summit” held in the fall. At this event we plan to bring together faculty, some who have participated in service-learning and some who are interested in service- learning but have not used it in the classroom, and representatives from community environmental organizations who are familiar with service-learning to facilitate discussions about service-learning opportunities. The student liaison would take part in much of the planning of the event during the summer in order for it to occur in October.

Strategy 4: Build Relationships with Student Groups. The Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability Office has already identified a list of Environmental RSO’s at UW. We plan to contact these groups during the early summer and late summer in order to talk about ways to provide support to them, as well as collaborate with them in the fall and throughout the year. We would also like to invite representatives of these groups to the round table event in the fall to discuss ways to incorporate on-campus service-learning and volunteer positions into the organizations.

Primary Contact:
Rachel Vaughn
rvaughn@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $6,868
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

We are conducting a feasibility and design study for an app-based environmental challenge game that educates incoming student cohorts about sustainable practices on and around the UW campus. The challenge game concept is intended to orient new students to the sustainability resources in their new community, and create incentives and rewards - tangible and otherwise - for taking actions and adopting behaviors that conserve resources during their tenure at UW and beyond.

The three-part feasibility and design study will build on and incorporate existing sustainability efforts underway at UW, and engage with students in multiple ways to help determine game designs that will appeal to the most users. The study consists of 1) a scholarly literature review (spring/summer), 2) a "Game Jam" in the fall to engage students and staff across campus in creating game prototypes, and 3) a student survey on sustainability concerns and technology/gaming use (fall/winter). The feasibility and design study will result in a formal business plan developed around the top two game prototypes, with the intent of future implementation at UW. We are eagerly seeking student volunteers to assist with all project stages; if desired, we can work with students to develop resume-building experiences from their participation with this project. 

Primary Contact:
Lauren Kuehne
lkuehne@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $21,931
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Our innovative solution to the issue of energy consumption is to install a number of solar charging tables on campus. Solar charging tables allow people to be outdoors, and to see the source of the energy they are utilizing. By seeing the source of power first hand, and reading signage posted at the tables, we hope to change student’s mindsets and to increase awareness and mindfulness of energy consumption, leading to behavioral changes across campus. In addition to the physical and technical use of the tables, the goal of this project is to expose the University to solar power.

ConnecTable™ solar charging tables have the ability to charge 75-150 devices a day, and store four days’ worth of charge. They can also function in overcast weather, a common occurrence in Seattle.

Primary Contact:
Paul Zuchowski, HUB Director
badgers@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $91,800
Funding Received:
 2011-2012
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Biodiversity Green Wall, Edible Green Screen and Water Harvesting demonstration Project is a two phase project to be constructed at Gould Hall. Phase I, the Feasibility and Design Study, was awarded funding by the Campus Sustainability Fund in the summer of 2011 and will be completed by the end of the year. 

During Phase I, students coordinated with over 29 campus faculty and staff including the College of Built Environments, Campus Architect  and Landscape Architect, Capital Projects, and UW Grounds and Maintenance. This proposal is for $86,800 of support, about 80% of the cost to complete Phase II, Construction and Documentation, with work to be completed by August 2012. 

As an entirely student-led design and construction effort, students will transform a blank concrete wall into a showcase of improved habitat that fosters diverse native species, innovate rainwater harvesting methods, utilize solar power for lighting and irrigation pumping, try new methods of local food production, and test green systems that will potentially reduce building heating and cooling energy demand to help the campus reduce its carbon footprint and achieve its sustainability goals.  Successful implementation of the Demonstration Project may lay the groundwork for the construction of other green walls on campus, helping the campus achieve its multiple sustainability goals.

Primary Contact:
Leann Andrews
gflab@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $14,000
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

The Odegaard Library is one of the most utilized and occupied libraries on our campus. Thousands of students, faculty and guest use this facility on a 24-hour basis. The usage of water to flush the toilets of this facility is obviously unavoidable. This unavoidable act of water consumption is something we are looking to minimize. New technological advances are providing the world with water-efficient toilets capable of reducing water consumption while maintaining a level of cleanliness and sanitation. Our grant project aims to integrate dual-flush technology at the women’s bathrooms at Odegaard Undergraduate Library. Currently, the women’s toilet only has one flushing option at 1.6 gallons per flush. What we want to introduce is the same 1.6-gallon per flush for solid waste with the addition of a 1.1-gallon per flush for liquid waste. The Sloan EBV 550A Dual Flush Side Mount works as a sensor flushing system that will use a 1.1-gallon flush when the user has spent less than 90 seconds on the toilet and a 1.6-gallon flush for anything longer. With the implementation of these retrofit flushing mechanism, we hope to see a substantial reduction of water consumption, facilitating future water conservation projects throughout our campus.

Primary Contact:
Robert Chang
rman2595@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $2,500
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

Hey everyone. The ASUW SFC seeks to create an on-campus food co-op. This means we- the students of UW- will collaboratively staff it, vision growth, and create a campus community around yummy food! The storefront will consist of a variety of popular dried/pantry bulk food items, ranging from snacks (nuts, dried fruit, candy) to kitchen basics (flour, beans, sugar). With this grant we can speed up construction and open the pantry by early 2017! We are currently seeking food and people enthusiasts to help run and staff the storefront once open! We also appreciate any input or help throughout this process. Shoot us an email if you are interested!

January 2017 Update Courtesy of The Daily.

Primary Contact:
Zoe Frumim
asuwsfcp@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,620
Funding Received:
 2011-2012
Project Status:
 Inactive

Executive Summary

The Biodiesel Cooperative is seeking funds to perform a vapor characterization analysis to determine the quantity of methanol vapor released from the Biodiesel Cooperative’s production process.

Characterizing the vapors released from the reactor is important, because the biodiesel conversion involves methanol. Methanol can cause health effects when inhaled. The OSHA permissible exposure limit for methanol vapor exposure is a time-weighted average of 200ppm over an 8-hour period. The Cooperative uses liquid methanol, but since the reactor is heated during the conversion some of the methanol may vaporize during reaction. It is important to know if any of this vaporized methanols is released, because it could have health effects. The Cooperative will also be determining the flammability risk with the vapor. This research has impacts that are potentially broader than just the Cooperative. The vapors released from small-scale biodiesel reactors have not been well characterized. The vapor characterization will help to keep small-scale biodiesel producers like the Cooperative safe.

The characterization will be performed in a temporary lab space allocated to the Cooperative by Engineering Facilities Services for the purpose of the vapor characterization. This project will be done in cooperation with Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S). The ultimate goal of the project is to determine the Cooperative’s lab requirements. Once EH&S agrees to the lab requirements, the Cooperative will be able to find a lab space that meets the Cooperative’s long term needs and insures its viability. The Cooperative will be in a much stronger position to fulfill its main goals after this characterization is complete. It will be able to begin to educate individuals in a small-scale alternative energy production, while also increase sustainability on campus by repurposing a waste stream into fuel for on-campus vehicles

Primary Contact:
Kathryn Cogert
cogerk@uw.edu

Photo Credit: Tyler Carrier
Amount Awarded:
 $52,700
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Friday Harbor Labs (FHL) is University of Washington’s marine biology laboratory on San Juan Island. FHL has a more than 100 year history of environmental stewardship as well as marine and terrestrial ecology research and education, and is a beacon of ecological connectedness and sustainability in the Pacific Northwest. Nevertheless, the lack of a fully sustainable solid waste disposal program at FHL represents a clear and easily addressable area for improvement. FHL hosts hundreds of undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, staff, and visiting scholars year round, and as such generates thousands of pounds of compostable food waste annually. Currently, all of this waste is shipped of island to a landfill in South-Central Washington. In 2014, FHL acquired an industrial Rocket A700 composter, which must be housed in a dedicated dry and animal-proof facility.

With this Campus Sustainability Fund grant, FHL will design and construct such a facility. This facility will feature:

  • an enclosed space to house the composter;
  • the ability to handle up to 700 liters of food waste per week, which is more than all current food waste production at the labs even during peak occupancy;
  • a reduction in FHL-generated CO2 emissions* by nearly 11 metric tons per year;
  • a yield of sufficient compost to cover a new, student-run FHL community garden as well as for all the landscaping needs on the FHL grounds;
  • for the first time, a dedicated, publicly-accessible location at FHL for the disposal and ethical recycling of e-waste;
  • educational signage describing our composter, other home composting methods, and the environmental benefits of composting and recycling.

The new FHL facility will be overseen by a new quarterly “FHL Student Compost Ambassador,” who will coordinate with the FHL administration, maintenance and cafeteria staff to plan, help construct and operate the facility. The Ambassador will also organize student volunteers to design and sustain the new community garden, and will submit quarterly reports to maintain continuity with future ambassadors.

*estimated using the student footprint calculator

Primary Contact:
Molly Roberts
earobert@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $13,694
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

Our vision is to provide consumers at the University with the accurate knowledge of what is and what isn’t recyclable or compostable. Our software is built for tablets, and designed to be mounted on-site in front of waste containers. When a consumer approaches with waste, they can utilize the software to determine how to properly dispose of their waste, thus reducing the University's improper waste stream and improving consumer education.

Learn more about their product on the EvoEco website.

Primary Contact:
William Zhou
wjzhou@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $100,124
Funding Received:
 2012-2013
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Overview

We seek to restore Kincaid Ravine, a 2.2 acre urban forest in the northeast corner of campus. Our project will transform this neglected ravine from a declining and unsafe area to an ecologically healthy campus forest. This work will increase native species biodiversity, and enhance the ravine’s ability to perform important ecosystem services. It will also create an upland forested outdoor laboratory for academic exploration on main campus, as well as a space for students to engage with the natural world just steps from their residence halls.

Project Goals

1. Ecological restoration of Kincaid Ravine through removal of invasive species and re-establishment of appropriate native plant communities.

2. Engagement of students and academic units in both the initial restoration and long-term stewardship in order to create learning opportunities and environmental awareness.

Key Stakeholders

This project is being designed as a partnership between Martha Moritz (student project manager), Howard Nakase- UW Grounds (land manager), UW Botanic Gardens (faculty/administrative sponsor unit), and EarthCorps (outside expertise on restoration and major volunteer event coordination). Other project stakeholders in support of the restoration efforts include: Kristine Kenney,(Campus Landscape Architect), Josh Kavanagh (UW Transportation), Mike Ward- Seattle Department of Transportation (adjacent land owner), Kern Ewing and Jim Fridley (UW faculty members), the UW Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration, Phi Kappa Theta Fraternity (key volunteers), and a variety of other Registered Student Organizations (RSOs).

Project Phases

Planning - Spring and summer of 2013. We will lay the groundwork for success by: cementing important partnerships and conducting critical outreach with UW staff, academic units, RSOs, and other stakeholders for the initial restoration and long-term site stewardship; developing a restoration design; conducting baseline ecological monitoring; and preparing to launch the restoration work beginning in Autumn 2013. Prior to beginning the restoration efforts, the homeless encampments will be addressed in partnership with the UW Police Department, the Seattle Police Department and UW Grounds to remove any trespassers and clean up the associated debris.

Phase I - Autumn, Winter, Spring of 2013-2014. The work will involve major removal of invasive species, installation of hundreds of native plants, and other restoration work (e.g. slope stabilization, installing mulch, and creating maintenance access). This will involve EarthCorps crews and hundreds of student volunteers.

Phase II - Summer 2014-2016. The work during this time involves two to three years of maintenance, including ongoing invasive species monitoring which will guide continued removal of undesirable species regrowth, care for installed native species, and replanting when necessary. This phase will be performed in partnership with UW Grounds, EarthCorps, and student volunteers from academic units (e.g. UW Botanic Gardens) and RSOs.

Phase III - 2016 and on. The primary task will be minimal and ongoing invasive species maintenance. Based on the knowledge gained from decades of restoration experience in Seattle parks, we believe robust stewardship during the two years of Phase II will set the site on a trajectory for success and minimal maintenance in Phase III.

Primary Contact:
Matt Schwartz
mateos@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $36,300
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

In 2013, a proposal to build an outdoor "sustainable learning space" for Environmental Studies (Program on the Environment) students on the north lawn of Wallace Hall was born out of the tragic loss of Tikvah Weiner, then PoE Administrator, to breast cancer. At the end of her life, Tikvah spoke to the PoE community about her desire to see this area used for the benefit of students, as a demonstration of sustainable practices; a place where experiential learning extended out of the classroom and into the adjacent green space.

Following Tikvah's passing, a gift fund was established in her honor to help create the garden. In 2016, students as well as faculty and staff from Landscape Architecture, PoE, UW Grounds, UW Farm, Intellectual House (wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ), and College of the Environment Dean's Office came together to create an exciting plan to bring Tikvah's garden to fruition.Located on the east Fisheries lawn (immediately west of Parking W35), the proposed 9,000 ft garden will:

  • create an outdoor classroom allowing discussion sections of up to 20 students to use the space for learning "in the green," and more broadly as a place for the PoE community, and the UW community, to assemble, interact, socialize and learn from the space and each other.
  • showcase (including interpretive signage) a series of sustainability features, including the use/creation of:
  1. "green" (e.g., local, recycled content, natural, sustainable) materials throughout,
  2. a rain garden to handle on-site water management from all hardscape, and with the potential to handle a portion of roof run-off from Wallace Hall
  3. a "pocket ecosystem" featuring native and pollinator-based plantings providing habitat for native pollinators (e.g., bees) and songbirds,
  4. the use of culturally significant native species through collaboration with wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ staff, students and faculty working to highlight indigenous connection to and use of native natural resources,
  5. edible elements will also be considered, based on input from the campus Landscape Architect, the Grounds Manager, and the UW Farm Manager.
Primary Contact:
Rick Keil
rickkeil@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Earth day celebration is a popular annual gathering at the University of Washington. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the event. On April 22nd, 2015 the event was put on by UW’s student run Earth Club and assisted by the UW sustainability staff. The goal of the organizers is to bring as many people together as they can to talk about our planet and sustainability. This year the celebration was located in Red Square in the center of campus. Thousands of people gathered to enjoy live music, free food and talk with the dozens of organizations who represented themselves with booths and tables.

Events like Earth Day are very important to sustainability at the University of Washington. They are effective outreach tools and help get thousands of people involved in sustainability on campus. The various clubs that table the event cover a broad range of environmental topics, from eating locally and being sustainable in your daily life, to thinking globally and getting involved in national policy. Many people who would not interact with groups focused on the environment are attracted to the sights, smells and sounds of the various events in Red Square. They mingle with the other students, speak with some of the student groups and RSOs and leave with a greater knowledge of what their peers are doing to make a difference to sustainability locally as well as globally.

The $1,000 that the CSF put towards Earth Day funded the rental of tents and tables for the event. With several dozen groups tabling and a few large tents the event was able to include a wide variety of sustainable groups. Other expenses included: purchasing compostable cups, renting a PA system and printing advertisements and decorations to promote the event. In addition to the CSF, the Earth club also received funding from ASUW and the College of the Environment. 

Primary Contact:
James Bao
jambao24@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $2,247
Funding Received:
 2012-2013
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Our ENVIR 480 Sustainability Studio project group partnered with Shelly Carpenter, lab manager at the Marine Sciences Building, to focus on reducing the water and energy consumption of commonly used lab equipment. We will install LED bulbs in one growth chamber in the Marine Sciences Building and faucet aerators throughout the building to test the viability of implementing these technologies in more campus labs.

Labs are hesitant to incorporate these products because no case study exists to demonstrate successful implementation. We have consulted with experts from several research institutions to identify the most beneficial, convenient, and cost-effective products available. This project will provide an example for other labs to reduce waste and earn net savings. It will also contain an educational component aimed to help other students organize similar projects in other facilities.

Primary Contact:
Kate Stevenson
kates17@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $14,840
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

The Local Projects branch of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) at the University of Washington will design and construct a series of eight phone charging stations powered by entirely by solar energy. Once construction is complete, these stations will be implemented throughout the University of Washington Seattle campus, in locations such as Husky Stadium and Rainier Vista for public use. The goal of this project is to normalize the presence of clean, renewable technology in the community, and prompt a broader discussion about how and where sustainable practices and technology can be implemented more widely. 

The first part of the project will be a research and design phase. Our team will begin by drawing a design of the system with dimensions section-by-section. There will be two main designs: the first being an electric system consisting of a battery, a solar panel, and a charge controller to regulate the amount of charge for students phones to work properly, the other of the station itself, consisting of a locking metal box to enclose the electric system, with the solar panel on top, which will be covered by weatherproofing. Once our team and mentors (mentors consisting of Rebecca Neumann and Faisal Hossain) have approved the design we will move onto development. We want to make the most efficient, viable design possible. Therefore, we will build our first unit and run tests to make sure it works. Once that is completed, we will implement the first unit on campus to gather data on use and effectiveness. This will help us determine where to build the next stations so they will be most useful and effective. This information, along with discussions between us and campus entities described in project approval, will help us to find the most viable on campus locations. If all works out, we hope to explore shipping out our design to even greater horizons such as refugee camps or disadvantaged communities around the world.

Primary Contact:
Andreas Passas (Project Lead)
amp5353@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $50,965
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Campus Illumination team envisions a campus with truly sustainable exterior lighting that enhances the campus experience, mitigates disruption to wildlife patterns, and operates with the most efficient use of energy. The team will collaborate with UW students, faculty, staff, and off- lighting design professionals to create a roadmap to guide future development and retrofitting efforts on campus. The roadmap will serve as a critical piece of campus infrastructure to ensure that lighting is implemented with a comprehensive vision as the University transitions to a sustainable nighttime campus. 

The guidelines presented in the roadmap will consolidate the design, technical, and operational expertise of various on- and off-campus entities to measurably reduce the electrical load of exterior lighting while ensuring that experiential and maintenance concerns are met. The project provides hands-on, applied learning experience for students, who will use the campus as a living laboratory for collecting and analyzing lighting data. The project establishes a methodology that integrates the perspectives of intra-institutional students, faculty, and staff to achieve our goal of holistically sustainable exterior lighting. 

Primary Contact:
Kelly Douglas
douglakm@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $2,335
Funding Received:
 2012-2013
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

 The "After Hours @ the Burke" event will be held at the Burke Museum. The proposed cost is $2,335. The event seeks to reduce plastic waste on campus by providing fun and informational activities that demonstrate what plastics are, the impacts of plastic pollution, and how the campus community can make a difference as responsible consumers and recyclers. The Burke Student Advisory Group is partnering with SEED. 

Primary Contact:
Danielle Acheampong
dacheamp@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $21,176
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Active: Planning phase

Executive Summary

Local cleantech start-up SafeFlame aims to tackle a glut of high profile issues effecting people in developing nations. First among these is the potent issue of indoor pollutants. Globally, more than 3 billion people cook using biomass (wood, animal dung, crop waste, or charcoal). The indoor pollution created by burning these fuels results in over 4.3 million deaths annually with deaths particularly high among women and young children, who spend the most time within the home. Additionally, many of these solid fuels are gathered in an unsustainable manner by local communities causing severe deforestation.

SafeFlame’s service – which they call an untethered utility – is provided through biodigesters which SafeFlame technicians install directly into customers’ households. These digesters, which are serviced regularly by the team, break down organic content to produce biogas which customers can use to prepare meals on a standard gas cookstove. “Think of it like your water heater at home”, says CEO and current Foster MBA student Kevin Cussen, “Someone installs it somewhere in your house and as long as you pay your electricity bill you reap the benefits of hot water. Once we install a digester, all our customers need to do is pay their bill and they have access to clean burning gas at the turn of a knob.”

However, the start-up is currently working a little closer to home on a project sponsored by the University of Washington Campus Sustainability Fund. The small team has been tasked with building a biogas powered food cart “experience” for use at campus events and high foot traffic areas on the UW campus. The cart will cook food items and serve as a concrete educational aid on the applications of biogas as an alternative energy. Those interested in learning more or getting involved are encouraged to check out SafeFlame’s Facebook page or reach out directly to Kevin Cussen at kcussen@safeflamellc.com. For all others, keep your eyes peeled for this interesting contraption coming to an event near you this Spring!

Primary Contact:
Caelan
cwisont@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $1,250
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Last year the UW student group ReThink used a CSF grant to organize the first UW Resilience Summit. This year they recieved another grant to host the event for a second year, with a paneled event that focuses on a specific topic relating to environmental and economic resilience.

Primary Contact:
Grace Dahl
graciedahl@gmail.com

Anastasia Stepankowsky | The Daily
Amount Awarded:
 $4,330
Funding Received:
 2013-2014
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

This proposal is for material and labor costs for students to design, fabricate and install interactive educational elements and habitat enhancements to the previously funded CSF project, the Biodiversity Green Wall, Edible Green Screen and Water Harvesting Demonstration Project at Gould Hall.  These improvements will include the installation of bird perches on the Green Wall, a prominent water level monitor on the cisterns, and interpretive signage with links to online data.  Gould Hall is located in a As is often the case for highly urbanized environmentareas, the environment surrounding Gould Hall is deficient in wildlife habitat and generates profuse amounts of polluted stormwater runoff.  where wildlife habitat is rare and polluted stormwater is abundant. Exposing the water harvesting capabilities, habitat value, and other benefits of the Green Wall project will help students and passersby to understand and envision more sustainable opportunities for dense urban environments.  The project will be implemented through the Green Futures Research and Design Lab (GFL) at the College of Built Environments and the student team will consult with applicable departments during design and construction (i.e. the Gould Hall building manager, campus facilities and engineering, CSF, UW Architecture Commission, and others).  Through this grant, the wall’s capacity to support biodiversity will be enhanced, and interactive and dynamic interpretive features will compellingly inform students, faculty and the public about the sustainability features and the performance of the Green Wall.

Primary Contact:
Cayce James
gflab@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $52,000
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

UW Sustainability Action Network (UW-SAN) will be a campus wide sustainability resource center that provides online and in-person support for student driven projects. The online component of UW-SAN will consist of: 1) a blog and website with resources, events, updates on student projects, and archives of student organizations and projects, and 2) a networking website that connects student groups for coalition building and provides a space for projects to form. The in-person component will include student staff, volunteers, and faculty, based at the Center for Communication and Civic Engagement (CCCE). The UW-SAN team will provide in-person guidance, leadership, and support throughout the development and implementation process of student projects.

Primary Contact:
Emily Tasaka
emily3c@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Since 2001, the Taiwanese Student Association (TSA) has brought this dynamic, cultural event to the University of Washington campus. Given its success, the UW Night Market has quickly become an annual Seattle tradition. Our goal is to bring people together in celebrating and appreciating Taiwanese culture. The event includes many vendors selling various Taiwanese foods, on-stage performances, as well as cultural activities. However, we don't want it to be just a cultural event, we also hope to increase community awareness of how to maintain a sustainable enviroment. This year, we are planning to implement a recycling program that helps reduce waste. We hope our CSF-funded program adds an environmentally-friendly lens to our event.

 

Primary Contact:
Emily Wan
ywan3@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $400
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The UW night market is an annual event, which is put on by the Taiwanese Student Association (TSA). The night market brings up to 20 vendors to red square to promote Taiwanese culture. Vendors sell a wide variety of cultural foods as well as running games and activities for market goers to participate in. There are also free musical performances put on by the TSA. 

Several thousand people usually attend this event and its popularity grows each year. In previous years the size of the event has caused problems in waste management. The University of Washington has strict rules regarding waste disposal and sorting waste into its correct receptacle. At such a large and exciting event many people may disregard signs on waste containers and throw everything in the same can despite whether it is garbage, recycling or compost. This year the TSA wished to eliminate this problem by better educating the public and providing guidance at the waste stations. To reach these goals the TSA reached out to the CSF to fund several aspects of their waste management. To improve the public’s knowledge of how UW manages waste the TSA created a slideshow and video explaining the differences between garbage, recycling and compost. These educational pieces were then shown on their website and presented at the night market event. In addition to these educational steps, the TSA also stationed volunteers at each waste station to ensure that everyone enjoying the festivities were correctly disposing of their waste into the respective container.

By taking these steps to better manage their waste the TSA has shown its dedication to make the University of Washington a more sustainable community. 

Primary Contact:
Helen Yang
hlyang24@uw.edu

SER UW Chapter
Amount Awarded:
 $7,000
Funding Received:
 2013-2014
Project Status:
 Inactive

Executive Summary

The intent of this proposal is to support the University of Washington’s student chapter of The Society for Ecological Restoration (SER-UW) to better achieve our mission of promoting restoration ecology as a means of sustaining the diversity of life on Earth and reestablishing an ecologically healthy relationship between nature and culture. We are requesting funds to develop interpretive displays, more useable spaces at our on-campus restoration site, and resources to keep pace with our members interest in conducting both restoration projects and community outreach events (e.g. collaborative meetings, seminars, and travel to conferences).

Our restoration site, The Whitman Nature Walk, is located on north campus between Whitman Court NE and the Denny Field IMA tennis courts along the Whitman Walk pedestrian path (Fig 1). The northern section of Whitman Walk  is a small forest tract that has been restored by SER-UW over the past five years and is the nexus of our organizations efforts. This site embodies the mission of SER-UW and the proposed interpretive displays would be located here. SER-UW also participates in restoration activities at other locations across campus, and throughout King and Pierce Counties. We also maintain a native plant nursery at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH) and hold outreach events at the UW School for Environmental and Forest Sciences (SEFS). The total amount requested for these projects is $14,712  and would endow these increasingly popular activities.

Primary Contact:
Cameron McCallum
seruw@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $33,000
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

The University of Washington Farm (UW Farm) proposes to purchase and install a composting toilet at the Center for Urban Horticulture (CUH) farm site. There is increasing need for an outdoor bathroom facility at the farm, to support student famers working and volunteering at the UW Farm, as well as other groups using the space. In 2015, there were over 180 volunteers working at the farm. In addition, the farm offered tours to over 500 UW students in 2015 alone. The lack of a bathroom on the worksite negatively impact productivity and disrupts workflow (individuals have to stop work and leave the site to use the nearest restrooms), disrupts programing on the farm, and impedes access to any bathroom on weekends (the nearest bathrooms are locked on the weekend, a time when the farm has routine volunteer hours).

The farm would not be the only beneficiary however. An outdoor bathroom would greatly benefit a variety of community and university groups who operate adjacent to the farm. The facility would be an indispensable resource for: community visitors to the Union Bay Natural Area (UBNA) and the CUH during daylight hours; participants in the neighboring Seattle Tilth Youth Garden Works program; youth participating in other educational programs at CUH; student ecologists and volunteers doing restoration work in UBNA; and UW grounds and maintenance members who frequently do work in the area. 

Primary Contact:
Sarah Geurkink
sgeurk@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $700
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Doctoral Canidate Julie Kriegh is local architect and a graduate from the University of Washington. She works towards environmental health and sustainability across the Northwest. Her specialty is in the design of sustainable buildings that fit LEED certifications (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.) She has organized a panel which included multiple other experts in their fields. The speakers come from a broad range of academia and origins.  Dr. Manzo is an associate professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington. Professor Loveland is a professor of Sustainability in Architecture and the Director of the Center for Integrated Design in the School of Architecture, College of Built Environments and the University of Washington.  Dr. Steg is a professor of Environmental Psychology at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. This panel promotes personal sustainability through behavioral change.

The first event will be on May 26th; the panel will meet in Alder auditorium for a free public lecture. This lecture is targeted at UW students and the speakers will discuss “Hot to inspire pro-environmental actions.”  A second event will be held later that day for the faculty and students of the College of Built Environments.  The third event will be a panel discussion at the Environmental Design and Research Association conference in Los Angeles.

The CSF’s funding of this event will go towards the expenses of Dr. Steg’s travelling from the Netherlands. 

Primary Contact:
Julie Kriegh
Julie@kriegharchitects.com

Kincaid Ravine Facebook
Amount Awarded:
 $3,385
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Educational signage and benches for Kincaid Ravine aims to install 2 benches handmilled from leftover timber cut down by the campus arborist, and three 12"x12" educational signs designed by UW Museology students and produced professionally by Fossil Graphics. This educational "nook" is located just south of the wetland, on the eastern perimeter of the Kincaid Ravine restoration site, approximately 15 feet off of the Burke Gilman Trail (BGT). It will create an essential education and outreach component to the sustainability initiatives already occurring in Kincaid Ravine. The total budget of $3,382 includes the costs of design, materials, production, and shipping of signage, as well as materials and production of the benches. The Society for Ecological Restoration- UW (SER-UW) will spearhead installation. Kincaid Ravine Student Project Manager Matt Schwartz and the Kincaid Ravine 2015 intern Andrew Jauhola will coordinate and oversee the process.

Primary Contact:
Andrew Jauhola
ajauholawola@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $7,457
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Inactive

Executive Summary

Project Tap That's goal is to educate University of Washington (UW) students about the harmful effects of single-use plastic water bottles, promote the use of reusable water bottles, and ultimately ban the sale of plastic water bottles on campus. Many students do not equate their food and consumption choices with real world problems because the effects are not immediately (or ever) felt or seen by the consumer. Project Tap That seeks to bridge the educational gap between student consumption and environmental impact through a multi-year campaign−similar to Seattle University and Western Washington University−that will take the following steps:

  • A year of education and outreach focused on project visibility and spreading information about the impacts of disposable water bottles.
  • A second year of outreach focused on gaining student and faculty support through signatures while still spreading information.
  • An attempt to start a dialogue with UW faculty about renegotiating the contract with Coca-Cola and banning the sale of plastic water bottles on campus.

Project stakeholders and partners will mainly be UW students, HFS staff members, and UW Recycling administrators. The UW Earth Club will be assisting Project Tap That with outreach, putting up posters, handing out flyers, and tabling events. UW art students, (there are currently two), will be creating, designing and installing the art piece in the HUB by fall 2015, as well as helping with graphic design of educational materials. HFS representative Michael Meyering is supplying Project Tap That with information about water bottle sales on campus. Project Tap That will be using this information for educational materials and for the amount of bottles used in the art pieces. UW Recycling representative Liz Gignilliat has granted the project access to recycling bins, which will be placed around campus to procure bottles for the art piece. Director of the HUB Lincoln Johnson has approved the placement of 1-2 large art projects in two specific locations in the HUB. UW Art advisor Elizabeth Copland is assisting Project Tap with facilitating student interest.

Project Tap That is asking for a total of $7,456.59  to be used for art supplies, visual media, and 500 promotional reusable water bottles.

Primary Contact:
Lauren Rowe
laur.rowe@gmail.com

Amount Awarded:
 $999
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The UW Night Market has been an event held in Red Square every year since 2001. It is one of the Taiwanese Student Association’s signature events and easily the largest in scale in terms of people. The event recreates traditional night markets in Taiwan and is centered around food. Last year, we had 24 total vendors. Every year, this event creates large amounts of waste that isn’t properly disposed of by guests; this year, we plan to create a recycling plan that alleviates this issue.

The plan is based on ZeeWee, a Zero Waste Event. The goal is to heavily reduce waste with a three-step process. First: replace all food containers with recyclable ones. Some containers are vendor specific and will require funds to replace in house. The second step is to eliminate bottled water and replace them with water stations and recyclable cups, which will also require funds. The third step is to assign waste reduction tasks to staff and volunteers. These tasks will include monitoring garbage disposal bins to ensure proper sorting, after event cleanup, etc. Most importantly, the plan will require a radical redesign that will ensure a greener Night Market but will severely strain our already tight budget.

Primary Contact:
Anne Wu
wuanne15@gmail.com

UW Farm
Amount Awarded:
 $3,818
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Food scarcity in urban populations is a significant and growing problem that the world is beginning to address. Indoor farming is a solution that many are adopting. Growing food indoors allows food to be localized in densely populated areas, which can significantly decrease costs and increase quality and quantity. The largest obstacle to realizing these benefits is the prohibitive operating costs associated with traditional horticulture lights. The University of Washington is dealing with this same problem in the wide variety of greenhouses throughout campus. There is a clear need to retrofit these structures with energy efficient alternatives.

In partnership with the University of Washington (UW) Farm, as well as IUNU, a Seattle-based startup comprised of UW Alumni and graduate students, this project will increase the efficiency of the University’s indoor horticulture lighting systems. This project’s aims can be broken down into two separate phases; 1) to conduct a feasibility study to compare the energy usage and plant output of the High Pressure Sodium (HPS) indoor horticulture lighting systems currently used by UW Farm with the high-efficiency plasma lighting systems developed by IUNU; and 2) install the high-efficiency lighting systems in the newly constructed UW Farm greenhouse for supplemental lighting.

The feasibility study will aid the subsequent Education and Outreach of this project by collecting data over a twelve-week period on the energy usage and plant output of both the HPS and plasma systems. This data will be provided to the UW Farm so that they have evidence to justify retrofits and materials for education and outreach.

In order to conduct the feasibility study, lettuce, alliums, basil, and brassica will be grown as this is what the UW Farm intends to grow with the lights once they are installed in Phase Two. These varieties of vegetation were also chosen under the guidance of Liz Van Volkenburgh who is a professor in the Biology Department at the university and a specialist in plant physiology. In order to set metrics for the feasibility study, pounds per watt will be used to measure the energy efficiency of the two lighting systems. This metric uses the pounds of produce grown and compares it to the input-wattage used by each lighting system in order to display output in the context of efficiency. To test the quality of the produce grown, we will conduct a blind taste test and shelf life analysis.

Furthermore, plasma lighting is a relatively new technology and there is a demand for more research into its potential horticulture applications. Growing interest surrounding energy efficiency and indoor horticulture are driving these demands. Plasma light is estimated to be 30% more energy efficient than LEDs and 50% more efficient than high-pressure sodium systems. The UW’s ownership of plasma lighting fixtures will provide a resource for UW undergraduate and graduate students to have an opportunity to produce unique, marketable research in future endeavors.

Primary Contact:
Shane McLaughlin
shanemc@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $337
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The teaching apiary at the UW Farm contains 10-12 hives of honey bees and is used by students to learn basic beekeeping skills and also to perform experiments in bee biology. The bee course has been taught Summer A+B terms since 2011. Support for the program derives from student fees, covering course-specific activities, and an account funded by donations and fund raising, which covers maintenance of the hives and equipment acquisition. Researchers from departments as varied as Chemistry and Psychology have used the hives as education and research subjects in past years. A move of the apiary to the CUH/UW Farm area was a logical progression following displacement of the hives by construction in 2015.

Primary Contact:
Emily Schwartz
emiasch@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $54,426
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The University of Washington’s Society for Ecology Restoration student guild (SER-UW) native plant nursery was established at the Center for Urban Horticulture in the spring of 2013. The SER-UW nursery maintains an inventory of 1000-1500 containerized plants native to the Puget Sound and used in planting efforts at two CSF funded restoration sites: Whitman Walk and Kincaid Ravine.  The nursery also delivers educational benefits to students studying horticulture and ecological restoration at UW by providing experiential learning through volunteer activities. On average, 30 students per quarter participate in nursery work parties that focus on basic horticultural practices.  The work that SER-UW conducts is an applied complement to the curricula of the Master of Environmental Horticulture program (MEH) and the ESRM Restoration Ecology concentration. Although often overlooked, horticulture is an important facet of ecological restoration; understanding proper growing techniques and identifying or growing high quality nursery stock is imperative to successfully achieving restoration project goals. 

Phase I:

In addition to the programing that SER-UW already provides, infrasture upgrades will be made in order to increase plant production capacity and quality of care for our plants. This includes building a hoophouse exclusively for the SER-UW Nursery with storage, a potting bench, growing tables, an irrigation system, and a pot-washing station. Co-managers will be funded to work 15 hours a week to construct everything but the hoophouse. Our first crop of natives will be planted, and will be ready to sell in the fall of 2016. Co-managers will initiate discussions to find permanent funding sources for a full-time manager position.

Phase II:

A new set of co-managers will focus on increasing the clientele of the nursery in order to grow more plants for campus and UWBG Arboretum planting projects, in addition to providing a suite of commonly used plants for capstone and MEH projects. They will also focus on obtaining a long term funding source for a permanent full-time position.

Phase III:

The nursery will transition into a campus recharge unit or self-sustaining center. A single full-time manager will be in charge of plant production, education, and sales. 

Primary Contact:
Kelly Broadlick
kbroadli@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Inactive

Executive Summary

The Green Greek Representative Energy Challenge is a challenge designed to make the Greek community more energy efficient, which will make it more desirable to people who choose housing based on sustainability. Through this challenge, we seek to educate men and women in the Greek community about making sustainable choices that will save them and their chapters money while also helping improve the environment. We have so many future ideas for this project, including expanding the Energy Challenge to encompass more houses in the Greek Community and even residence halls, making this project a campus-wide competition to see who can reduce their energy usage the most.

Primary Contact:
Jane Green
jgreen5@uw.edu

ReThink
Amount Awarded:
 $1,605
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

While many RSOs focus their events on a single topic or target a specific major, ReThink’s goal is to reach as wide of an audience as possible, and we are seeking funding for an event that will do just that. We are requesting $1726 to host a “Resilience Challenge” which will implore participants to consider and engage with real-world problems surrounding predominantly business and the environment. This event is modeled after the Resilience Challenge hosted by Sustainable Seattle on October 2nd (more information on this event can be found here: http://pnwresilience.org). Located in the HUB, ReThink will team up with several clubs from across campus to draw an ideal crowd of around 100 students for the event. These students will spend three hours listening to panels of industry specialists, discussing relevant topics in breakout sessions, and collectively creating a plan of action with a realistic timeline and implementation strategy.

Beyond the experience members of the planning committee will gain from organizing and marketing this event, all participants of the Resilience Challenge will get exposure to a diverse array of students from other disciplines, and informative and inspiring presentations and discussions from professionals in their fields of interest. It is a fantastic opportunity for students to broaden their perspectives from the narrow views represented in their respective majors.

To ensure the Resilience Challenge draws the numbers we have projected, ReThink will partner with all participating parties and RSOs to employ a collaborative outreach strategy. This will involve placing marketing materials such as posters in the various buildings of departments we are seeking to target, and coordinating our online advertising through list serves and Facebook promotion.

To be clear, our event does not address one specific environmental problem, but rather a broad array of challenges that persist in today’s society. We will provide the information for participants to become educated on these important topics, and resources for them to learn how to get engaged.

Due to the nature of the event, the measurability of the event prior to its conclusion is quite limited. However, one the key outputs of the discussion segment of the event will be to come up with time-sensitive goals, and a way to measure them. We will then assign a student representative to each these goals in order to monitor overall progress towards them.

The following report will enumerate the specific event objectives, logistics, and funds requested.

Primary Contact:
Will Fantle
kszile@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The University of Washington has over 161 acres of turf grass.  Grounds maintenance, at the University applies a custom, slow release chemical fertilizer (F-6 Wil-Grow Wil-Cote Custom-CFM 25-0-5) for all turf applications. Chemical fertilizers can be detrimental to the environment and to the long term health of soils. With global warming at the forefront of scientific research, it is imperative that alternative, environmentally friendly lawn care systems are implemented. Revising the fertilizer plan for the lawns is a potentially important step for grounds management to undertake.

This project attempts to quantify the effects of endophytes (microorganisms that live within plants) on turf grass in the field. The Doty lab, at the School of Environmental and Forest Science, have isolated endophytes from poplar plants. These endophytes have shown to increase plants drought tolerance and decrease their reliance on nitrogen fertilizers. This project will analyze if inoculating the lawns with endophytes can decrease the amount of water and chemical fertilizers that are used by grounds management. 

Primary Contact:
Michael Bradshaw
mjb34@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $550
Funding Received:
 2016-2017
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Radical Public Health UW is hosting an evening of discussion and consciousness-raising about the root causes and myriad dangers of the global climate change crisis. In the current political context, local and global, it is more important than ever before to have honest, unapologetic discussions about this growing emergency.

Schedule: Doors open at 5, event begins at 5:30.
5:30 - 6:30 Dr. Rob Wallace
6:30 - 7:30 Women of Color Speak Out

The event will be led off by Rob Wallace, an evolutionary biologist and public health phylogeographer based at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Wallace will give a lecture titled "Capitalocene Park: Lucrative Risks in Neoliberal Public Health", analyzing public health and climate change in the context of John Bellamy Foster and Jason Moore's debates over the effects of capitalism on nature (and more specifically on influenza and other pathogens).

The discussion will continue with Women of Color Speak Out leading a panel on climate justice through an intersectional lens, connecting global warming to systems of oppression. Women of Color Speak Out has been a consistent and powerful force in climate justice activism in Seattle, and we are very excited they will be here with us to share their experiences, insights, and perspectives.This event is free of charge and open to the public. Spread the word and bring a friend!

Primary Contact:
Nicholas Graff
nrg6@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $398
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Prairie Rain Garden is a student run project located near the botanic gardens on the north-east corner of campus. The students involved are trying to improve the ecosystem of a small plot of land by removing invasive species, improving the topography and planting a healthy native plant garden. The garden’s location is just uphill of a trail which is frequently flooded during the rainy season and becomes extremely muddy and impassable. The Prairie Garden is designed to capture some of the rainfall, filter the water and drain it to prevent runoff flowing onto the path.  

The project will focus on several areas of environmental impact. The water flowing through the Prairie Garden will mostly be runoff from a parking lot located above the area. By creating a better drainage system and planting native plants along the storm water’s path; the garden will help filter out some of the toxins flowing off the parking lot through sediment capture, pollution degradation and nutrient uptake. Through the garden’s topographical landscaping, which mimics Washington states prairies, storm water will be reduced by absorption and evaporation. This will not only protect the walking path located below the garden, but also the native plants in the area from flood damage. The reintroduction of native species follows the nearby Union Bay Natural Area’s current objective and moves the project into greater levels of restoration.

The money awarded by the CSF will largely go to purchasing native plants to place in the garden. In addition the students will use funding to purchase topsoil, pots, drain rock and tools to build the garden. The hope of the students working on the garden is that others will see their low-resource venture and be inspired to begin a project of their own. 

Primary Contact:
Malcolm Howard
mfhoward@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $5,350
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

This photographic series, soon to be created by Ballo Conservatio, will investigate the relationship that humans have with environmental resources and the resulting outcomes of our daily decisions when considering sustainability. Joseph Blake, a UW Dance Program MFA Candidate, and photographer Steve Korn’s collaboration anticipate the design of eight, poster-sized works (although they will be framed objets d’art) involving dancers from the University of Washington’s Dance Program interacting with elements such as oil, water, plastic, paper, and addressing ideas such as erosion and excessive refuse. The combination of dance, photography and digital editing will offer an evocative reminder for us to be vigilant about the University's carbon footprint.

Dance celebrates the raw and natural form of the body, just as sustainability ideals honor the natural resources of our planet. The confluence of the dancing human body and earth's inherent gifts creates a powerful tribute to nature.

The premier of the series will open in Meany Theatre’s gallery space at the beginning of the World Concert Series 2016-2017 academic year and continue hanging until December 15th. There will be a temporary move the week of October 26th for the work’s showing at the University of Washington’s Sustainability Festival.

Jo and Steve are beyond excited to include their voice and creativity in this effort to spread the word about sustainability, human concern and university awareness through their mediums of work.

Primary Contact:
Joseph Blake
jbblake@uw.edu

Kincaid Ravine Facebook
Amount Awarded:
 $5,000
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Kincaid Ravine Bioswale Hydrological Assessment seeks to conduct a feasibility and assessment study on potential hydrologic modifications and designs for a bioswale in Kincaid Ravine will not only help address the issue of flooding on the Burke-Gilman Trail at the edge of Kincaid Ravine, but will also add to the ongoing efforts to restore the ecological functions and habitat of the previously underutilized and ecologically degraded four acre open space located in the northeast corner of campus.

This assessment will focus on characterizing the quality and quantity of the water moving through Kincaid Ravine and determine the feasibility of constructing a bioswale that will help alleviate flooding and allow for better stormwater treatment, storage and infiltration in Kincaid Ravine. This will require lab testing for water quality and soil and some hydrologic monitoring and modeling to determine the amount of water moving through the ravine during the wettest months. In congruence with the soil and water quality testing (which will be done on campus), we will use outside consulting from the group 12,000 Rain Gardens in Puget Sound to help provide assessment of current hydrology (approximate volumes and sources of water, outflow volumes, and soils assessment), bioswale feasibility assessment, summary report of hydrology and feasibility, and bioswale basic design (approximate elevations and planting plan).

Developing this assessment study instead of moving hastily into design and construction is a prudent first step in properly addressing the hydrology issues in Kincaid Ravine and making sure the numerous groups and administrative interests associated with Kincaid Ravine are all satisfied with the work going forward.

Primary Contact:
Daniel Hintz
djhintz@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $27,400
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The UW Shellfish Farm is a project conceived by several graduate students, faculty and staff at the School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences (SAFS), in collaboration with the School of Marine & Environmental Affairs (SMEA) and the College of the Environment. We seek to establish a student-run shellfish farm at the Big Beef Creek Research Station, a SAFS field site on Hood Canal. The overarching goals of the project are:

  1. Provide students and with a hands-on opportunity to experience sustainable seafood production.
  2. Conduct outreach and education on estuarine health and climate change impacts on the marine environment.
  3. Conduct monitoring to quantify environmental impacts of shellfish aquaculture on estuarine health.
  4. Serve as a field site for ongoing shellfish research at UW.
  5. Become self-sustaining by selling cultivated shellfish (e.g. clams, oysters) through wholesalers, UW dining establishments, a subscription service, and other outlets.

Our proposal is divided into two parts:

Phase I consists of a feasibility study for the Farm, including the development of a full business plan and management model, assessment of permitting requirements for commercial shellfish aquaculture and sales, initiation of permitting process through all necessary channels, formalization of partnerships with industry and other regional stakeholders (i.e. tribes, NGOs). We are poised to begin Phase I in Fall 2015.

Phase II consists of full implementation of the plan, namely the acquisition of grow-out materials, recruitment of student interns and volunteers, construction of a physical shellfish grow-out system at Big Beef Creek, acquisition and planting of shellfish “seed”, and development of educational and outreach material. Research conducted through Phase I will inform our cost estimates for Phase II.

We currently seek funding from the CSF to initiate Phase I. Funds requested will support a graduate student from the SMEA to conduct the feasibility study over three academic quarters, and will allow us to hire legal counsel to evaluate the legal requirements for developing an aquaculture operation on University property and to assist with the permitting process. 

Primary Contact:
Daniel Gillon
dgillon@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $8,616
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Inactive

Executive Summary

Our project, HydraPower, is a new, innovate technology that produces clean, alternative energy. HydraPower functions by capturing and generating energy from light, specifically infrared (IR) light. The device collects energy from ambient IR light, which is ubiquitously present at all times of day. Therefore, it provides stable power at all times of day without needing additional power supplied by rechargeable batteries. The ability to generate constant, stable power is a stark improvement from solar photovoltaic technologies, which are limited by sunlight.

The total cost of this project is $12,000. With this funding, we will create three fully functional prototypes by September 2015 and install them in UW campus buildings in late September, prior to the 2015-16 academic year. We’ve broken our project’s timeline into two phases. The first phase includes the physical development of three prototypes over the next six months, from April through September 2015. The second phase includes the physical installation of these devices in buildings on the UW campus, as well as continued development of prototypes that provide increased energy outputs. Funding from the Campus Sustainability Fund is intended for phase one, which will support the creation of three fully-functional devices to utilize in UW buildings for phase two. Currently, we have formal approval from the W.H. Foege Building to install one device and an accompanying poster in the building. Although we have received verbal confirmation, we are awaiting the final signature from Parrington Hall to set up the device and poster. Our third building site is still to be determined; however we are targeting one of the campus libraries in order to maximize visibility to the entire student body. Other than their locations, there are no differences between the three devices.

HydraPower’s brief history began in 2010 as a research project developed by Kurt Kung, a PhD candidate in Electrical Engineering and Bioengineering. The initial idea for this technology stemmed from basic water research in Dr. Gerald Pollack’s laboratory. Upon realizing the technology’s potential, Kurt began to develop an initial prototype which generated one nano-watt of energy. Currently, the technology can produce nearly one milli-watt of energy output. Despite the relatively low power output, the technology’s future potential is demonstrated by its recent history of exponential improvement. The output has increased to create nearly 1,000,000 times the energy since its first iteration, and our current research suggests that similar increases in energy output are feasible.

We will begin by using these devices to help power wireless sensors in several campus buildings. Specifically, our device will be placed alongside current remote sensors in these buildings, where they will initially help generate power needed without being the sole power source. As our prototypes prove their consistency, they will then become the main power source for these sensors.

Primary Contact:
Kurt Kung
ckung@uw.edu

Cassie Czarnetzke | The Daily
Amount Awarded:
 $89,682
Funding Received:
 2013-2014
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The University of Washington Biodiesel Cooperative is an undergraduate-led registered student organization that was established in 2010 as a way for students to become more involved in waste management and alternative energy through hands-on learning. After losing our lab in 2011 to an incoming professor in the Bioresource Science and Engineering Department, the Cooperative has spent the past three years seeking a permanent lab space. We collaborated with the Chemical Engineering Department to acquire temporary lab space in 2012, and through a CSF grant, were able to perform basic tests on our old biodiesel reactor. From these tests, UW Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) deemed our old reactor unsafe to run indoors without proper ventilation, and required us to narrow our search for space to facilities with chemical fume hoods.

After receiving a unanimous approval and support from ASUW in the form of an initiative to find our group permanent lab space, we contacted vice provosts, deans, department chairs and facilities services to help us in our search. Although we were heavily supported, there simply was not a viable space to support our group. Luckily, in the spring of 2013 we caught a breakthrough with UW Transportation Services and Joshua Kavanagh, who offered an open lot to us on their grounds off 25th Ave, as a part of UW Motor Fleet property. Since this time, we have collaborated with Transportation Services and the Capital Projects office to plan and permit the location with the city for the installation of a retrofitted shipping container laboratory. This new facility will be modeled out of a large shipping container, and will contain a functioning biodiesel reactor that eliminates on-campus waste through the conversion of used cooking oil generated by the campus restaurants into fuel-grade biodiesel. With the financial support of the Campus Sustainability Fund to cover the expense of building, permitting, and supplies, the UW Biodiesel Cooperative will finally be able to make this vision a reality.

When compiled, these costs are substantial, and so we are proposing a request of $89,682 to cover our startup expenses. Approximately $30,000 of this cost will cover the shipping container design and purchase, $20,000 will cover foundation and land preparation and the remaining costs will go to permitting and salaries for architects, inspections and planning services. From a previous grant from the CSF in 2012, we were able to quantitatively justify our need for a professional biodiesel reactor though vapor characterization, and from this, gained the support of the College of Engineering, as well as a sponsorship of $8,000 to go towards the purchase of a new biodiesel reactor. Additionally, the lot for our new lab saves us a significant operational costs, as Transportation Services has allowed us to occupy the space rent-free.

The website for UW Biodiesel is http://students.washington.edu/biofuel/, and current officers can be found and contacted through the officers/contact tab.

Primary Contact:
Group Inactive
nobody@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $16,100
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The proposed project's goal is to create an education program for elementary school children to tour the Farm and learn about sustainable agriculture and healthy food choices.  The proposed project requests funding for two main components: 1) the creation of a physical space on the Farm where children can explore and garden and 2) the acquisition of educational materials and supplies needed to run an educational outreach program that provides rigorous, curriculum-driven field trips with engaging and interactive educational activities.

Expanding the education program entails building a Children's Garden adjacent to the production beds of the UW Farm located at the Center for Urban Horticulture.  Currently field trips are carried out in the garden beds that are devoted to food production. While the interactive component of field trips is vital to student engagement and essential for assimilation of new skills and knowledge, it is not sustainable to have large numbers of children sowing and harvesting in the Farm’s production beds without adversely impacting food production.  The Children's Garden will consist of raised beds where children can implement the sustainable farming practices they observe on the Farm.  Perennial herbs, edible flowers, fruit bushes and dwarf fruit trees, delightful for the senses, will surround the periphery of the Garden.  The idea is to grow taller plants around the edge of the Garden to physically contain the children and create the feel of an outdoor classroom.  The UW Farm will soon have honeybees, creating the added need to carefully manage the flow of children through the farm; the garden design will help regulate their movements with natural garden barriers, clear paths and an inviting garden entrance. The designated site for the Children’s Garden on the southern edge of the UW Farm was once a landfill in the 1920’s before the University of Washington was gifted the land.  The UW has done a laudable job restoring the wetland ecosystem including capping and safely contained the landfill but raised garden beds seems advisable on the site nonetheless.

Primary Contact:
Amy Hughes
ash7@uw.edu

http://www.wilmingtonnc.gov
Amount Awarded:
 $17,517
Funding Received:
 2013-2014
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Creation of the Sustainable Stormwater Coordinator (SSC) position aims to designate a SEFS research assistant appointment to spread awareness about and physically improve stormwater treatment on campus. This will be accomplished by investigating the current quantity and quality of campus stormwater, analyzing a suite of suitable water management tools, and building a collaborative student-faculty-administration approach to this pressing issue. In sum, this project will seek concrete and actionable runoff strategies, informed by water quality testing of discharges from parking lots, rooftops and sports fields.

Primary Contact:
Matt Schwartz
mateos@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $23,872
Funding Received:
 2015-2016
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

The UW Shellfish Farm concept is a collaborative effort between students and faculty from the UW School of Aquatic & Fishery Sciences (SAFS), School of Marine & Environmental Affairs (SMEA), and Department of Biology, along with Taylor Shellfish Inc. and other shellfish industry stakeholders. We seek to establish a student-run shellfish farm at the Big Beef Creek Research Station, a SAFS field site on Hood Canal. The Farm is a two-phase project, and was awarded one year of funding from the Campus Sustainability Fund in Summer 2015. Phase I (feasibility study and business plan) was completed in Summer 2016. The current project sets out to conduct an aquaculture research trial at the Big Beef Creek Research Preserve (BBC), where the farm will eventually be located. This project will provide critical biological information on optimal conditions for shellfish aquaculture that will inform implementation.

The successful implementation of the UW Shellfish Farm concept depends on characterizing intertidal areas at BBC that exhibit optimal environmental conditions for shellfish growth. To that end, our team will deploy different shellfish species at multiple sites at BBC, monitoring growth, survival, and environmental conditions over the course of one year. Campus Sustainability Funds will be used to purchase necessary culture supplies (e.g. re-usable cages) and shellfish seed, and will support students to conduct the grow-out of shellfish at BBC. The students will also continue the ongoing permitting process initiated in Phase I, assist in developing educational outreach material, and use the data generated to initiate a long-term environmental monitoring program as highlighted in our Phase I proposal. Involved students will gain firsthand knowledge and skills required to operate a shellfish aquaculture business.

 

 

Primary Contact:
Steven Roberts
sr320@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $4,500
Funding Received:
 2012-2013
Project Status:
 Inactive

Executive Summary

Husky Sustainable Storms (HSS) in conjunction with the University of Washington and Huitt-Zollars, Inc. is upgrading the existing stormwater infrastructure of the N1 parking lot. A sustainable system, known as a biofiltration planter will be installed on Stevens Lane. This is a large walkway connecting the University District neighborhood to campus. An estimated 2,000 students use this walkway each day. In addition to conveying stormwater from the N1 parking lot, the new green infrastructure will reduce the velocity and pollution of stormwater drained from the parking lot.

HSS consists of seven students representing 5 departments, 2 Colleges, and ranges from undergraduate to Ph.D. students. HSS has been collaborating with the Universities’ Staff in the following departments: Facilities, Transportation, Planning, and Civil Engineering.

For more information on the full project team and an elaborated description of the project, please visit huskysustainablestorms.org.

Primary Contact:
Stefanie Young
sy10@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2014-2015
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The Earth day celebration is a popular annual gathering at the University of Washington. This year marks the 45th anniversary of the event. On April 22nd, 2015 the event was put on by UW’s student run Earth Club and assisted by the UW sustainability staff. The goal of the organizers is to bring as many people together as they can to talk about our planet and sustainability. This year the celebration was located in Red Square in the center of campus. Thousands of people gathered to enjoy live music, free food and talk with the dozens of organizations who represented themselves with booths and tables.

Events like Earth Day are very important to sustainability at the University of Washington. They are effective outreach tools and help get thousands of people involved in sustainability on campus. The various clubs that table the event cover a broad range of environmental topics, from eating locally and being sustainable in your daily life, to thinking globally and getting involved in national policy. Many people who would not interact with groups focused on the environment are attracted to the sights, smells and sounds of the various events in Red Square. They mingle with the other students, speak with some of the student groups and RSOs and leave with a greater knowledge of what their peers are doing to make a difference to sustainability locally as well as globally.

The $1,000 that the CSF put towards Earth Day funded the rental of tents and tables for the event. With several dozen groups tabling and a few large tents the event was able to include a wide variety of sustainable groups. Other expenses included: purchasing compostable cups, renting a PA system and printing advertisements and decorations to promote the event. In addition to the CSF, the Earth club also received funding from ASUW and the College of the Environment. 

Primary Contact:
Lysia Li
lysialee@uw.edu

An Huynh
Amount Awarded:
 $465
Funding Received:
 2011-2012
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

We are looking to implement a rainwater harvesting system on the UW Farm for farm use and campus wide education. This system would be located beside the Burke-Gilman on the UW Farm and will be installed on a renovated sign roof. We estimate this project to cost $465.00, and is estimated to save approximately 250 gallons of water per year. This project is designed to educate people on rainwater harvesting as well as inspire them to imagine future capabilities.Our small system has the ability to save around 250 gallons of water per year. This information is based off of a 15sq. ft. roof and 36 inches of annual rainfall; our formula accounted for the fact that only approximately 70% of the water would be harvested.

Primary Contact:
Erica Isomura
isomura@uw.edu

Martha Moritz
Amount Awarded:
 $78,637
Funding Received:
 2011-2012
Project Status:
 Active: Post-implementation phase

Executive Summary

Grounds Management of the UW Seattle Campus implemented a green waste composting program; waste that currently goes to Cedar Grove will be composted and used on-site to maintain the soil health of the UW landscape. Benefits of this program will include long term cost savings, greenhouse gas emissions avoided, student opportunities for engagement and leadership and composted material will be available to campus organizations, such as the UW Farm, SEED and UW Botanic Gardens. Estimated total cost is $153,637.00 and the compost committee is requesting $78,637 from the Campus Sustainability Fund, with the rest of the costs being matched by Grounds Management.

Primary Contact:
Hillary Burgess
hkb10@uw.edu

An Huynh
Amount Awarded:
 $3,085
Funding Received:
 2011-2012
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

This project will build on the success of an earlier CSF project that installed five bicycle repair stations on campus by installing two additional Dero Fixits at strategic locations on campus. The new repair stations will allow students, employees, and visitors to fill their tires and perform basic repairs quickly, effectively removing maintenance and uncertainty as barriers to bicycling.

Repair stations will be installed in the Marine Studies/John Wallace Hall building cluster and at residence halls along Whitman Court. These areas were not served in the first round of installations but have since requested repair stations.

Phase 1 of this project initially proposed ten repair stations but was scaled back to five at the recommendation of the CSF selection committee. This was so we could gain experience with the repair stations on campus and see how they would be received by students and employees. Because they have been so well-received and heavily utilized, expanding to the remaining areas of campus is prudent.

To measure this project’s success, a student intern will conduct user counts and a satisfaction intercept survey at each of the new and existing locations once the new equipment has been installed. We will also monitor visits to the Repair Station website and track emails and press related to the repair stations.

The project will be coordinated with UW Housing & Food Services (for installations at residence halls), the University Landscape Architect, Maintenance & Alterations, and Commuter Services.

Primary Contact:
David Amiton
damiton@uw.edu

UW Farm
Amount Awarded:
 $78,307
Funding Received:
 2010-2011
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The UW Farm is applying for $80,000 to support its expansion on ground near the Center for Urban Horticulture. This expansion will allow us to meet our goals of developing community (in UW and beyond), building connections (between people, land, and our future) and achieving a more sustainable food system. In its expansion, the farm will provide the campus with sustainably grown produce through programs such as a student-run cooperative kitchen, dining facilities run by Housing and Food Services (HFS), and donations to local food banks.

The expanded farm will serve as a tool in academic curricula spanning numerous disciplines from anthropology to biology to urban planning. And most importantly, the new farm will make a permanent, positive contribution to the University of Washington and to the city of Seattle.

With support from the CSF, we will expand our practice to an additional full acre of land on campus, adjacent to the Center for Urban Horticulture. Expanding the production capacity of the UW Farm will allow us to amplify our contribution to the UW‟s sustainability mission in several ways. First, it will enable us to solidify a relationship with Housing and Food Services (HFS). HFS is interested in purchasing farm produce to use in campus dining halls and small cafeterias. Second, the UW Student Food Cooperative will be operating in full capacity next year, running a cafe space in the South Campus Center and a food cart for Red Square. They plan to source a substantial amount of their produce from the UW Farm. A strong relationship with the Student Food Cooperative will help generate awareness on campus about the social, economic, and political issues surrounding food, from farm-to-table. Third, we will create a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program, which will teach farmers tangible and realistic business skills associated with the production of food.

Primary Contact:
Nina Arlein
theuwfarm@gmail.com
Amount Awarded:
 $500
Funding Received:
 2010-2011
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

We will host nationally renowned author and farmer Dan Imhoff speak about the 2012 Farm Bill.

The environmental problem we want to solve is lack of student awareness and involvement in the Farm Bill and in overall issues of land use and food. By engaging students in action around the Farm Bill, they will also be more knowledgeable and capable of action about food on the UW campus.

ABOUT THE FARM BILL: The Farm Bill is perhaps the single most significant land use legislation enacted in the United States, yet many citizens remain unaware of its power and scope. With subsidies ballooning toward $25 billion dollars per year, the Farm Bill largely dictates who grows what crops, on what acreage, and under what conditions--all with major impacts on the country's rural economies, health and nutrition, national security, and biodiversity. As debate and wrangling over the 2012 Farm Bill intensifies, Dan Imhoff will offer a highly informative and engaging overview of the legislation that literally shapes our food system, our bodies, and our future.

We will host speaker Dan Imhoff on March 1st for a campus-wide speaking event. In addition to the main event, there will be opportunities for students (those coordinating the event and also those active in food issues on campus) to have more intimate conversations with him at a dinner party. Professors may also be able to host him in class. Dan will be linking Farm Bill discussion to talk about how students can engage on their campus in food issues.

Here is how the NW Farm Action Bill describes the event:
The Northwest Farm Bill Action Group invites you to come to learn about local efforts to organize for a more just Food Bill! The NW Farm Bill Action Group is undertaking innovative research and outreach efforts to help those wanting to shape the next Food and Farm Bill.

Primary Contact:
Travis English
tme99@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $250
Funding Received:
 2010-2011
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The U.S. produces almost 600 billion pounds of food each year and a 25-50% of it is wasted — left in fields, thrown out at the grocery store, left in the fridge until it spoils, or scraped into the garbage at the end of a meal.

Wasted food costs farmers, consumers and businesses hundreds of billions of dollars every year, and the environmental costs are just as steep. It is estimated that 2% of all U.S. energy consumption goes into producing food that is ultimately thrown out. Because America’s energy economy remains highly dependent on fossil fuels, this translates into significant unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, food that is discarded in landfills creates methane emissions, itself a potent greenhouse gas.

As an institutional provider of dining and food services, food waste is an issue for the University of Washington. And all members of the UW community are affected by the environmental, social and economic consequences of food waste.

The panelists at this event will discuss the problems associated with food waste, as well as the solutions. The approaches to be discussed follow the same “Reduce/Reuse/Recycle” paradigm as other waste prevention strategies. Food waste can first be reduced through programs that help food producers and food retailers better understand and efficiently meet demand without excess. When there is excess food, it can be reused or reallocated through food rescue programs and other services that match food surpluses with those in need. Finally, food waste that cannot be avoided, such as inedible components or post-consumer food scraps, can be recycled into a useful soil amendment through composting, or turned into electricity or biogas through anaerobic digestion.

Panelists will discuss how these solutions are being employed here in Seattle, including on the University of Washington campus, and throughout the U.S.

Primary Contact:
McKenna Morrigan
morrigan@uw.edu

www.amazon.com
Amount Awarded:
 $295
Funding Received:
 2010-2011
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

We will be playing the movie "TAPPED" in the residence hall to inform people about drinking water & the nature.

By playing the movie TAPPED, we hope to address the issue of bottle of water and its impact on the environment. It would be an interesting experience for many people since it is a topic that does not get discuss in depth in people’s lives. It provides intriguing information about bottle of water and could raise people’s awareness about the issue. By watching this movie, people have a chance to evaluate their usage of bottle of water if any and potentially make a change and take some actions in their lives regarding to the issue. Their change in behavior will make our environment a better place. 

Primary Contact:
Martin Su
msu6@uw.edu

An Huynh
Amount Awarded:
 $1,477
Funding Received:
 2010-2011
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

This project is being run by the Husky Neighborhood Assistants, an organization run out of the University of Washington’s Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards that works with students to work on issues in the greater University District Community. The tree project is meant to beautify the neighborhood, improve the canopy habitat, improve water drainage in the planter strips, and to provide students both as residents at planting sites and as volunteers at the planting event an opportunity to connect with nature in the urban environment.

Primary Contact:
Kyle Murphy
nobody@uw.edu

US Green Building Council
Amount Awarded:
 $14,080
Funding Received:
 2010-2011
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED rating and certification program for buildings emphasizes energy efficiency through conservation and innovative technologies. Points toward certification are earned on the basis of designed building performance compared to a baseline model. While there are performance models for all LEED buildings, there is currently no comparison of predicted results with actual performance for the University's LEED projects. In order to have an effective adaptive management approach to capital projects at the University, this comparison must be made. Interns will be hired to perform the energy use analyses of University LEED-certified buildings and other capital projects. The project will entail the collection of actual energy performance data for the University’s completed LEED projects, and the predicted performance data for planned projects. Other comparisons of design baselines to actual performance will be included in this position (i.e., water, product performance comparison, etc.). Creation and maintenance of a database from this information will serve as the basis for evaluation of the effectiveness of LEED building standards on campus as well as the efficiency of other renovations and new constructions. Case studies will be developed, posted on the CPO website, and linked to other sites across the University domain.

The interns will work in the Capital Projects Office, and fall under the guidance of the Sustainability Manager, Clara Simon. The internship will be open to any student with a suitable educational background and personal interest, and will be available for four quarters, preferably filled by a new student each quarter. Priority will be given to students in a Capstone or similar program, so that the results of their efforts are shared  with other students via a student-designed presentation. Advertising of this opportunity to the College of the Environment and College of Built Environments will make this emphasis clear.

Primary Contact:
Clara Simon
simonch@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $7,237
Funding Received:
 2010-2011
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

In order to encourage bicycle commuting, Commuter Services intends to install DIY bicycle repair stands across campus with the goal of eliminating maintenance and uncertainty barriers to bicycling. These fix-it stations would allow students to perform minor bicycle maintenance and repairs quickly and conveniently while on campus. The predicted effect of this project would be an increase in cycling on campus due to the removal of barriers to bicycling.The long-term goals of this project are to reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with driving, minimize negative impacts of congestion around the University, and create safe transportation options for students at the University of Washington.

In order to maximize the benefits of this project, Commuter Services will work with an intern whose position will be dedicated to assisting in project development and reaching out to the campus community and raising awareness about this new piece of campus infrastructure. Some of the activities the intern will be involved in will include creating a Google-powered fix-it station map, advertising the new tool to the campus community in multiple mediums, and working with various student groups to ensure that the benefits of this product are widespread around the University community; including increased visibility of the ASUW Bike Shop, University of Washington Commuter Services, and other bicycle-related interests on campus.

Primary Contact:
David Amiton
damiton@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $1,000
Funding Received:
 2010-2011
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Our goal is to incorporate several owl nesting boxes on conifer trees located near Denny Field, William H. Gates Law Library, and the Union Bay Natural Area. Through a physical survey of campus, we found specific trees in these areas that meet the necessary criteria for barn owl habitat. The boxes will be anchored to the trees using rings that will wrap around the circumference of the trunk, and can be loosened periodically to accommodate the growth of the tree. It is our hope that within two years, one or more barn owls will encounter these boxes and take up residence on campus. We chose barn owls because they are commonly found in the Pacific Northwest, provide natural pest control, can easily live in human-modified environments, and they are a dynamic “charismatic mega-fauna” that will add complexity to biodiversity at UW. According to our panel of experts Kristine Kenny of the UW Landscape and Architecture, Heather Swift of Cohabitats, and Charles Easterberg of the UW Sanitarian, we would have a better chance of attracting an owl if we put up more than just four boxes. To get a head start and increase our chances, we would like to put up ten boxes.

Primary Contact:
Jessica Kang
tsmaniac@uw.edu
Amount Awarded:
 $12,203
Funding Received:
 2010-2011
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

This behavior change project focuses on student composting.  The main objective of this project is to identify perceived motivations and barriers the campus community has to composting, and determine what communication methods on signs are most effective in fostering behavior change.  The results of this project will be valuable to Housing and Food Services (HFS), Building Services, and student and staff led groups such as SEED and Green Teams that spend significant resources on campus signage, without studying the effectiveness of their communication methods. In the long-term, this project will contribute to increased composting on campus, which will reduce carbon emissions and waste.

Primary Contact:
Daniel Brody
dobb14@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $85,000
Funding Received:
 2012-2013
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

UW-Solar is a student led organization developing a solar installation with an accompanying industrial control system; planned to be installed on a Housing and Food Service residence hall on the University of Washington Seattle campus. UW-Solar will be providing effective outreach to students about the benefits of smart solar systems. There were five potential sites for the installation and we have currently narrowed down the selection to Lander, Mercer Building A, and Poplar buildings.

We are asking for $85,000 dollars for the pilot project. This is in addition to the money we have received from CSF for the feasibility study.

Currently there are 13 students participating. They represent five Schools, five Departments, two campuses within the University of Washington system and they range from undergraduate to Ph.D. level students. 

Primary Contact:
Stefanie Young
sy10@uw.edu

http://www.atmos.washington.edu/directions-ATG/ATG_lawn.jpg
Amount Awarded:
 $7,776
Funding Received:
 2012-2013
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

Many of us will have noticed that the lights in communal areas of UW buildings often get left on even after the last person in the area has left. This wastage is likely to occur overnight, at weekends and over holidays.  We propose to install motion activated light switches in the corridors of 6 floors of the Atmospheric Sciences building (ATG Building), which will switch off automatically after a specified amount of time if no motion is detected. If someone walks into the area then the lights will switch back on in that area. We present a solution based on switches and sensors that communicate wirelessly, which eliminates the need for extra wiring to connect the motion sensors and the lighting circuit. The technology is well-proven and installation is straightforward.

Several environmental problems stem from electricity wastage. Washington State generates most of its electricity from hydroelectric power. Therefore, the energy savings from this project will help improve stream and river flows for endangered species such as salmon. The electricity savings are likely to have a significant future environmental impact since reduction of electricity usage at the point of use is recognized as one of the most effective ways of scaling back energy generation requirements at the power plant level due to the large loss of energy in transmission. With a growing population Seattle will need to increase efficiency in order to meet future needs using renewables.

We estimate that our scheme could prevent over 16,000 kWh of electricity usage annually, which is enough to power a student bedroom (approximated at 3 kWh per day) for almost 15 years. This wastage costs the university almost $1000 a year, which is money that could be used in productive ways. Scaled to the whole campus the wastage is very large indeed. We intend to install light monitoring devices that will enable us to log when the lights have been turned off by the system and thus allow us to quantify the exact amount of electricity saved and also to estimate any potential effects of switching on the lifetimes of the bulbs.

The estimated cost of the project, including materials, labor, taxes, advertisement and outreach costs is $7775.74. However, we calculate that due to the electricity savings, the full project costs will be recouped after only 8 years. If considering only materials and labor (i.e. without outreach, etc. costs), this is reduced to only 6.1 years.

The project will be led by Dr. Daniel Grosvenor (UW research Associate, Atmospheric Sciences) and Prof. Robert Wood (faculty Associate Professor, Atmospheric Sciences). They will also act as student mentors for 3-4 students who will be involved in the project. One of these was involved in writing this proposal.

Primary Contact:
Dr. Daniel Grosvenor
danpg@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $9,000
Funding Received:
 2012-2013
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

This project seeks to meet two objectives.  First, it will directly measure the efficacy of two new systems of solid waste management offered by UW Recycling by directly quantifying the benefits of these systems in a devoted case study.  Second, it seeks to use the results of these efforts as a means of advocating for administrative and user-based change in solid waste management at UW.

Efforts to address the first goal will be undertaken through a detailed study of Denny Hall’s waste stream.  This work will begin by characterizing the efficiency of the current system of waste disposal in Denny.  Importantly, this system does not currently provide compost bins, and this is a major problem since 1) composting is a more sustainable waste-disposal strategy than landfilling, 2) composting is cheaper per ton of waste than landfilling ($55 versus $145), 3) the UW sends about 4990 annual tons of waste to landfills (costing about $1.3 million annually), and 4) previous work shows that most of what UW sends to landfills is compostable.  Next, UW Recycling will install two systems designed to improve the efficiency of solid waste collection – and composting in particular – in Denny Hall; these systems are the MiniMax system and restroom paper towel composting.  The second half of this work will then measure whether these systems improve Denny’s waste efficiency, including improvements in both sustainability and financial expense.  Results will then be reported to UW Recycling to aid this office in convincing buildings across the UW campus to adopt these systems.

Efforts to address the second goal will be undertaken through a broad program of student involvement and project outreach efforts.  These efforts will include diverse student participation in the project proper, as well as the dissemination of results to students through social media and our website, an educational video, campus events, collaboration with student environmental groups, and presentation of results and insights to a broad range of UW classes.

This project will be conducted by the University of Washington Garbology Project (UWGP; uwgarbology.weebly.com), a student-led initiative operating in partnership with UW Recycling and the UW Anthropology.  In carrying out this project, we will draw upon the resources of these offices as well as existing ties with the Burke Museum, UW Housing and Food Services, the UW Program on the Environment, SEED, SAGE, Eco Reps, the Environmental Stewardship Committee, UW Bothell, and Shoreline Community College.  Lastly, a portion of the funding requested will support dedicated efforts to expand our network of connections as a means of increasing the positive campus-wide impacts of the proposed project.

We are requesting a total of $9000 to conduct this project.  The majority of this money ($6000) will be devoted to hiring two students as part-time employees devoted to managing project analysis and outreach efforts.  The remainder will be devoted to materials and supplies needed to implement the proposed systems in Denny Hall, conduct waste analysis efficiently, cleanly, and safely, and support outreach efforts.

Primary Contact:
Jack Johnson
anamgorm@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $5,000
Funding Received:
 2011-2012
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

The University of Washington is well recognized as a leader in sustainability among public college campuses, with our students leading the way in innovating new ways to better this image. However, you wouldn’t know it by looking around the UW’s various sustainability websites. We need a landing place that showcases, in an engaging, marketable way, the projects and efforts of our campus community to make our campus a greener place.

Working with the Environmental Stewardship & Sustainability office’s new Snapshots project, I would like to fill this hole. Using my storytelling, management, and multimedia skills, my project would create professional quality photos, videos, podcasts and written pieces showcasing our students’, faculty’s and staff's ongoing efforts to cultivate the culture of sustainability, eco-awareness, and environmental progress on our campus. I am asking for a small grant of $5,000 dollars in exchange for the time and effort of myself and others to create this content and construct a new brand for UW’s sustainability.

Primary Contact:
Lucas Anderson
mandlbrt@uw.edu

Amount Awarded:
 $4,500
Funding Received:
 2012-2013
Project Status:
 Completed

Executive Summary

UW-Solar is a student led organization developing a solar installation with an accompanying Industrial Control System; planned to be installed on a Housing and Food Service residence hall on the University of Washington Seattle Campus. UW-Solar will be providing effective outreach to students about the benefits of smart solar systems.

Currently there are 11 students participating. They represent 5 Schools, 5 Departments, 2 campuses within the University of Washington system and they range from undergrads to Ph.D. level students.

Primary Contact:
Stefanie Young
sy10@uw.edu