Student Athletes of UW for Sustainability (SAUWS) Union Bay Restoration Project

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.