The Associated Students Recycle Center will hold a "Recovery Drive" next week to collect unwanted items from students.
The drive, which will take place during finals week March 15-19 in residence halls across campus, will provide an opportunity to reuse or recycle unwanted items. Residents can donate clothes, appliances, books, electronics, un-upholstered furniture and other personal and household items in the blue barrels located in residence halls.
Western Washington University employees who walk, bicycle, share a ride or ride the bus to work at least twice from March 14 to 27 could win a design-your-own Hawaiian vacation for two, including airfare, lodging and ground transportation.
A number of other prizes, including weekend getaways and merchant gift cards, also are available.
Dave Sansone, director of Perennial Harvest and owner of Edible Planet Landscaping, will speak on edible forest gardening at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10, in Fraser Hall Room 4 on the Western Washington University campus.
Edible forest gardening is a method of growing food that mimics a natural forest by interplanting fruit and nut trees, berry shrubs, vines, ground covers and vegetables. Whether you have access to a community garden, a city lot, country acreage, you can grow more food with an edible forest garden.
If you'd like to learn how to turn your lawn into a food source, or learn how to grow tasty plants you never knew existed, Dave Sansone wants to tell you how.
New aspects of "edible forest gardening" are the subject of his free talk Wednesday, Feb. 10, at Western Washington University. Sansone is the director of Perennial Harvest, a nonprofit outfit.
Question: Can people with "brown thumbs" benefit from your talk?
If you'd like to learn how to turn your lawn into a food source, or learn how to grow tasty plants you never knew existed, Dave Sansone wants to tell you how.
New aspects of "edible forest gardening" are the subject of his free talk Wednesday, Feb. 10, at Western Washington University. Sansone is the director of Perennial Harvest, a nonprofit outfit.
Question: Can people with "brown thumbs" benefit from your talk?
The Western Washington University Renewable Energy Fee Committee invites all students, staff and faculty to participate in an upcoming community conversation on the WWU Renewable Energy Fee from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 18, in Fraser Hall Room 4.
The Renewable Energy Fee has provided for the purchase of Renewable Energy Credits for the past five years and will return to WWU students for renewal in the spring Associated Students elections.
How much of what ends up in waste bins at Western Washington University's dorms is actually garbage?
That's what some environmentally minded students are trying to answer.
On Tuesday, Feb. 2, members of the Huxley chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association gathered data on waste disposal in three residence halls: Mathis, Nash and Edens. They didn't go around and ask students about their habits; instead, they sorted through bags and piles of trash to see first-hand what ends up in the bins.
The Huxley Student Chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association will be conducting a Waste Audit from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 2, in the south end of Red Square by Carver Gym on the Western Washington University campus.
Trash from the three dorms will be sorted to determine how much of what is thrown into the garbage is either recyclable or compostable.
“This event is part of a long term effort to reduce WWU’s waste stream, and give proof for more composting and recycling resources on campus,” said Devin Mounts, Huxley AWMA member.
Wind instruments were installed Thursday, Jan. 7, on the Bellingham waterfront to gauge the feasibility of installing power-generating turbines on the site.
The $8,000 project is a partnership of the Port of Bellingham, Bellingham Technical College and Western Washington University. The 160-foot tower that holds the instruments was installed by a crew from Wear Construction of Snohomish. It's in an area off Laurel Street that was formerly home to the Georgia-Pacific Corp.
House Capital Budget Chairman Hans Dunshee today rolled out a proposal to issue $860 million in state bonds to pay for energy-efficiency upgrades at schools across the state.
He's calling for a referendum, meaning voters would get the final say in November.
The measure, which Hanshee bills as "The Jobs Act," is a slimmed-down version of his $3 billion bond proposal last year, which failed to pass the Legislature.
The idea is to put people back to work while also making public schools more energy efficient through new lighting, insulation and other upgrades.
Need to get to Seattle University? There's a green transit pass for that. Need to meet somebody when you're there? Try the new eco-friendly gathering space.
Eating in the cafeteria? The disposable forks are biodegradable, made from corn. Leftovers? There's composting, both off-site and on. Trouble getting home? Try car-pooling, van-sharing or something called maxi pool.
Seattle U. is typical of many universities across the country that are trying to win the hearts and minds — and tuition checks — of students by becoming greener than their peers.
Almost a year after opening to students, the Academic Instructional Center at Western Washington University has been awarded LEED certification.
LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a set of criteria for environmentally sustainable construction. The certification is overseen by the U.S. Green Building Council.
The Academic Instructional Center at Western Washington University has been awarded Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED certification provides independent, third-party verification that a building project is environmentally responsible, profitable and a healthy place to live and work.
In a pilot project that could help better manage the planet's strained natural resources, space-age technologies are helping a Washington state community monitor its water availability. NASA satellites and sensors are providing the information needed to make more accurate river flow predictions on a daily basis.
The most thorough study to date into the potential health effects of living near wind turbines says the evidence so far is clear: they don't directly make people sick.
But the independent expert panel that prepared the wind-industry study, to be released today, conceded that some people can get stressed out by the "swishing" sound wind turbines often make.
"A small minority of those exposed report annoyance and stress associated with noise perception," the panel concluded, pointing to similar annoyances that can come from highway or city traffic, local industry and airplanes.
The transit authority, a local vehicle research institute and a program that encourages people to use alternative transportation would benefit from earmarks in a bill likely to be passed soon.
The bill with three earmarks was approved by a joint committee of the U.S. House and Senate on Tuesday, Dec. 8, and is expected to be approved by both chambers soon.
A sweeping spending bill unveiled Wednesday on Capitol Hill includes hundreds of millions of dollars for Washington state for everything from military construction at Fort Lewis to new ferries, security along the Canadian border and repairing a landslide-damaged road.
It also includes money for methamphetamine programs, the Northwest Straits Marine Conservation Commission, gang prevention in Pierce County, development of fuel-efficient small-city buses made with composites at Western Washington University and $80 million for salmon recovery.
After a task force's 18 months of work and more than 100 meetings, City Council members heard how limited energy resources globally could have an impact locally.
Members of the Bellingham/Whatcom County Energy Resources Scarcity/Peak Oil Taskforce recommended tying their work to how the county manages emergencies, especially if there is a shortage of oil and other energy resources, as well as things that need fuel to get here, like food.
No recommendations were approved or adopted by the council Monday night, Dec. 7, after the presentation.
Dave Bennink ('94) is bringing sustainable practices to the building demolition industry. Deconstruction can create thousands of jobs while saving precious resources, he says.
Western Washington University has won the 2009 Green Cleaning Grand Award for Schools and Universities from American School and University magazine, the top award given in the category nationally.
Winter weather is coming. If it snows, how will you get to work? Western Washington University Sustainable Transportation and Whatcom Smart Trips are hosting a brown bag lunch from noon to 1 p.m. in Viking Union Room 567.
Learn about Whatcom Transportation Authority snow route changes, some of which impact commutes to WWU. For more information, contact Carol Berry at (360) 650-7960 or transportation@wwu.edu.
Western Washington University has won the 2009 Green Cleaning Grand Award for Schools and Universities from American School and University magazine, the top award given in the category nationally.
"We're honored to receive this prestigious award and to be recognized as the national leader in green cleaning. We work hard every year to make our cleaning practices more sustainable and environmentally friendly, and are always seeking ways to improve - and I think that shows in awards such as these," said Tim Wynn, WWU's director of Facilities Management in a press release.
