Written by Office of Sustainability Green Office associate, Sofia Martinez, Class of 2026 WashU’s environment includes numerous offices and labs. When considering the university’s environmental impact, these spaces are important to consider, as they consume energy, use materials, and generate waste. By certifying with the Green Office Program, employees across the university can make a […]
Once November starts, the anticipation of the upcoming holidays hits. It’s a time filled with loved ones, traveling, gift-giving, and big feasts. We hope that you will have a good time, no matter when or where your celebration takes place. The holiday season also corresponds with a peak in consumerism, energy consumption, and waste generation. […]
The League of American Bicyclists, the premier grassroots advocacy organization encouraging better bicycling and protecting the rights of people who bike, has honored WashU’s Danforth Campus with a Gold-level Bicycle Friendly University award in recognition of the institution’s achievements in promoting and enabling safe, accessible bicycling on campus. “When universities make biking easier, safer, and […]
WashU requests your participation in an institution-wide transportation survey. Data gathered from this survey will provide campus planners key information about the transportation behaviors and preferences of the WashU community and will assist in identifying additional ways to support the different modes that students and employees take to get to and from campuses. The survey […]
Written by Office of Sustainability student associate, Meghan Jachna, Class of 2027. Generative AI (artificial intelligence) tools such as ChatGPT and other Large Language Models have had a significant impact in almost every facet of society, but in education and university settings especially, generative AI is transforming the way that students and professors conduct their […]
For over a decade, April has started an annual cycle of circularity at WashU: students living on and off campus purge thousands of items – clothing, shoes, books, furniture, shower caddies, trash bins, and more – which are collected for redistribution and reuse through the Share Our Stuff program. To find the highest and best […]
Just before Fall Welcome, twenty students ranging from sophomores to grad students, spanning a wide array of areas of study, came together to volunteer, learn, and grow under the tutelage of the Office of Sustainability. The SPARK Sustainability Leadership Program is a 9-day multi-faceted upperclassmen experience that supports WashU’s move-in activities and sets the tone […]
Written by Office of Sustainability student associate, Sophie Keyser, Class of 2026 This past summer, Environmental Analysis student Sophie Keyser interned for WashU’s Environmental Health and Safety Department, working to develop educational material and targeted strategies aimed at chemical waste reduction across our Danforth and Medical Campuses. The educational materials are intended for distribution amongst […]
October is the first of two Active Transportation Months (ATM) at WashU hosted by Parking & Transportation, Office of Sustainability, and WUSM Operations & Facilities Management. The goal of ATM is to motivate staff, faculty and students to kick the car habit and try active, low-carbon means of transportation. If you cannot imagine going car-free, […]
Spotify and Apple Music users can now support global conservation efforts while listening to some tunes. NATURE has recently become a verified artist on Spotify and Apple Music, courtesy of Sounds Right, a project initiated by the Museum for the United Nations. According to its website, “Sounds Right is a music initiative to recognise the […]
Microplastics were found in 100% of human testicles that were examined in a recent study. Add that to the list of places that scientists have discovered the tiny plastic particles, including rainwater, breast milk, placentas, meconium, lungs, and animal proteins. What are microplastics? The term “microplastics” was dubbed by Richard Thompson, a biologist who […]
Summer is a popular time for the classic cookout: fire up the grill, throw on some burger patties and hot dogs, pop open a cold beverage and enjoy the slow season with friends and family. According to Project Drawdown, a leading resource for global climate solutions, Plant-Rich Diets is the number two climate solution for […]
Written by Office of Sustainability student associate, Faith Phillips, Class of 2024 Leanpath is a food waste prevention technology system that measures food waste and encourages food waste prevention in commercial kitchens worldwide. Leanpath believes that front line food service workers are the first domino in creating real change by challenging the global food waste […]
Environmental Studies’ Impact Internship program places a WashU student with Metropolitan Congregations United (MCU) to support their regional environmental justice work. Impact Intern, Allie Lively, shares a reflection on her semester working with MCU. During my internship with Metropolitan Congregations United (MCU) I noticed how little I initially knew about the environmental justice issues that […]
Written by Office of Sustainability student associate, Wissal Boudaoud, Class of 2025 WashU is moving into a new era for e-mobility devices on campus. Gone are the days of scrambling to find an outlet to charge your electric bikes, skateboards, or scooters. Thanks to WashU’s initiatives to support a more sustainable campus, two e-mobility charging […]
Each year on April 22nd, millions of people around the globe celebrate Earth Day to remind ourselves that we live in a precious and fragile environment. The international celebration originated with the modern environmental movement in 1970. At the time, environmental issues were not at the forefront of the public eye due to a lack […]
April is the first of two Active Transportation Months (ATM) at Washington University. The goal of ATM is to motivate staff, faculty and students to kick the car habit and try active, low-carbon means of transportation. If you cannot imagine going car-free, consider carpooling or budgeting time to try transit one or two days during the […]
In 2024, the Office of Sustainability is piloting a new version of its popular summer internship program that will place students with campus partners to give them a deeper understanding of campus operations and real-world experience. Spend your summer in St. Louis doing a deep-dive in sustainable operations with one of the numerous Office of […]
What is Green Cup? Every spring since 2011, WashU’s Residential Colleges compete to reduce energy use and adopt more sustainable lifestyles, preventing hundreds of metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere and helping the university save money on electricity costs. The Green Cup competition will kick off this year on Friday, February 2nd and conclude […]
Written by Office of Sustainability student associate, Faith Phillips, Class of 2024. This is the Student Sustainability Spotlight, a series where we shine a light on important student-led initiatives on WashU’s campus and their positive, widespread impact on the university’s sustainable operations. There are a number of student-initiated and student-led projects that significantly contribute to […]
You would be hard-pressed to find someone in the Washington University community who is unaware of the chancellor’s “in St. Louis, for St. Louis” vision. The Live Near Your Work (LNYW) program is a prime example of how the university walks that walk. The program was first established in 1997 as the Employer Assisted Housing […]
Folks at WashU are full of good ideas. A lot of great sustainability-related ideas make their way to us and due to the Office of Sustainability being a small (but mighty!) team, capacity issues prevent us from implementing many of these projects. After hearing a strong and positive response after this summer’s Wellness Challenge, Sustain, […]
Office of Sustainability student associate, Mia Phutrakul, Class of 2025, contributed to this story. Every year, as part of the Share Our Stuff program, items are collected from the South 40 and Village residential areas, as well as nearby off-campus neighborhoods surrounding the WashU area with the intent to repurpose goods from student move-out and […]
October is the first of two Active Transportation Months (ATM) at Washington University hosted by Parking & Transportation, Office of Sustainability, and WUSM Operations & Facilities Management. The goal of ATM is to motivate staff, faculty and students to kick the car habit and try active, low-carbon means of transportation. If you cannot imagine going […]
There is always a buzz of excitement before Fall Welcome with staff ensuring that everything on campus is just so before welcoming in a new group of students who will spend their most formative years here at WashU. The Office of Sustainability (OOS) hosted a group of twenty-one upperclassmen (and a law student!) as part […]
“The energy in the air and happiness was palpable, stretching throughout the entirety of the Danforth Campus,” senior director of Commencement and Convocation, Michelle Gelven, reflected on WashU’s 162nd Commencement. The day was memorable for a number of exciting reasons. Esteemed guests addressed the graduating classes: Emmy Award-winning actor and St. Louis native, Sterling K. […]
The Office of Sustainability kicked off the summer with a group of six amazing and talented WashU students who are devoting their time off of school to advancing institutional sustainability. Learn more about these incredible students below! Learn more about the broader Environment, Sustainability, and Climate Change internship program here.
This summer, WashU’s Human Resources has partnered with the Office of Sustainability and Parking & Transportation Services on a new mind-body well-being program called Sustain. Sustain is a month-long online program available to all benefits-eligible WashU employees. Participants will receive tips and activities that will allow them to collect points. Sustain allows participants to personalize […]
Washington University in St. Louis has acquired three electric shuttles as part of its Danforth Campus fleet. The shuttles will be on display at the Earth Day Festival in Forest Park April 22-23. Attendees can park in WashU’s East End garage and ride a university shuttle to the event on the Muny grounds. The electric […]
Written by Parking & Transportation’s Sustainable Transportation Coordinator, Becca Gilberg New Danforth Shuttle Operations and Shuttle App WeDriveU, one of the country’s leading shuttle providers, is now managing the Danforth shuttle operations, resulting in enhanced reliability and efficiency. The current vehicles are temporary while Parking & Transportation works to launch the new fleet. Along with […]
Written by student associate, Kyla Fung, Class of 2026, and Cassandra Hage, assistant director of sustainability From single-use utensils to banana peels, campus dining halls and cafés typically produce a high volume of waste. In order to reduce our carbon footprint and be a more responsible community member, WashU began separating compostable materials at certain […]
April is the first of two Active Transportation Months (ATM) at Washington University. The goal of ATM is to motivate staff, faculty and students to kick the car habit and try active, low-carbon means of transportation. If you cannot imagine going car-free, consider carpooling or budgeting time to try transit one or two days during the […]
Written by student associate, Samm Kaiser, Class of 2023 On February 23rd, WashU wrapped up the twelfth annual Green Cup competition and the competition was fierce! Every spring, all on-campus residential colleges compete in Green Cup, earning points for energy reduction, attending sustainability-themed events, completing campus EcoChallenge tasks, and more! This was the first year […]
Written by Midwest Climate Collaborative intern, Ella Hyman, Class of 2025 The Midwest Climate Summit brought together leaders tackling issues in climate change, allowing for cross-sector collaboration and sparking conversation about what work is being done. With over twenty-five workshops, nearly 300 in-person attendees (and even more on Zoom) learned about current work in agriculture, […]
Written by Communications Associate, Jarea Fang If there is one thing Danforth Campus students and staff are familiar with, it’s the sight of bicycles and skateboards either parked or gliding on our sidewalks. Shuttles and buses are also quite a big thing around here, as well as the occasional electric scooter. Even those that drive […]
Since Spring 2019, Environmental Studies’ Impact Internship program has been partnering with Missouri Sierra Club to provide meaningful opportunities and skills for WashU students to help address real environmental issues in Missouri. One of the Fall 2022 Impact Interns with Missouri Sierra Club, Clara Chavez-Ives, shares her experience as a Grassroots Organizing Intern below. This […]
Washington University in St. Louis has been awarded Gold status accreditation from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE), renewing certification at the same level as its last certification in 2018, though on a more rigorous version of the reporting tool. STARS is a reporting framework developed by AASHE, the leading […]
Written by Office of Sustainability student associate, Melena Braggs, Class of 2025. As companies at many scales are discovering, a key factor for success hinges on building environmental and social considerations into the core mission of the company. Using social and environmental “sustainability” as a framework allows businesses to make decisions in a way that […]
The Midwest Climate Collaborative (MCC) was recently awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) Civic Innovation Challenge (CIVIC) grant to explore solutions to mitigate the effects of heat islands through equitable expansion of the tree canopy. This project is a collaboration of four Midwestern communities: Indianapolis, Kansas City, Madison, and St. Louis. Trees are sometimes referred […]
Pictured is Jasen Vest (far right) with some Sierra Club members during Metropolitan Congregation United’s 2022 Air Quality Bridge Rally . The rally was moved online to keep attendees safe in the sweltering heat. Vest was an Environmental Studies Impact intern during the summer of 2022. He shares his experience working at MCU below. While I did […]
October is the first of two Active Transportation Months (ATM) at Washington University hosted by Parking & Transportation, Office of Sustainability, and WUSM Operations & Facilities Management. The goal of ATM is to motivate staff, faculty and students to kick the car habit and try active, low-carbon means of transportation. If you cannot imagine going […]
Though the mountain of move-in trash seemed insurmountable, WashU Green Ambassador (WUGA) co-director, Lauren Blaydon, rolled up her sleeves and got to work. “There is something to miss about the sheer chaos of waste sorting at move-in,” said Blaydon, a junior studying biochemistry and psychology. “The mounds of cardboard, Styrofoam, and bubble wrap were discouraging […]
Since Spring 2019, Environmental Studies’ Impact Internship program has been partnering with Missouri Sierra Club to provide meaningful opportunities and skills for WashU students to help address real environmental issues in Missouri. One of the Spring 2022 Impact Interns with Missouri Sierra Club, Brooke Bergman, shares her experience as a Grassroots Organizing Intern below. I […]
There was nothing but smiles on the morning of May 20, 2022: graduates posed for photos in front of the giant “2022” blocks, families clutched floral bouquets for their graduates, and a man in a bowler hat walked around campus on stilts. Yes, stilts! We’ll get to that in a moment. Washington University in St. […]
For the upcoming summer and Fall semester, there are a number of opportunities for students to engage in sustainability leadership events and programming. We have compiled some of these opportunities below. Apply to the SPARK student leadership program SPARK: Sustainability Leadership Training Program is a program hosted by the Office of Sustainability. The second cohort will […]
ENST Impact Intern Applies Architecture Knowledge to Energy Burdens in St. Louis In the fall of 2021, Austin Tsailin served as a Renewable Energy & Affordable Housing Intern for Idleburg Consultants as part of Environmental Studies’ Impact Internship program. Austin reflects below on his experience as an impact intern, and how he applied knowledge from […]
April is the first of two Active Transportation Months (ATM) at Washington University. The goal of ATM is to motivate staff, faculty and students to kick the car habit and try active, low-carbon means of transportation. If you cannot imagine going car-free, consider carpooling or budgeting time to try transit one or two days during the […]
Written by Office of Sustainability Student Associate, Julia Feller, Class of 2022 This month, WashU is launching the Danforth Campus Sustainability Map, the one-stop shop for navigating all things sustainability at the university. The map is the end product of four different Office of Sustainability interns spanning nearly five years, providing each an opportunity to apply GIS course […]
Written by Becca Gilberg, Sustainable Transportation Coordinator, Washington University Parking & Transportation Enterprise CarShare is back with hourly car rental on campus! Enroll now to enjoy self-service, hourly car rentals available 24/7 from dedicated spaces on and around campus (reservations required). How does it work? Reserve online or via the app, unlock the car with […]
What is Green Cup? Every spring since 2011, WashU’s South 40 Residential Colleges compete to reduce energy use and adopt more sustainable lifestyles, preventing hundreds of metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere and helping the university save money on electricity costs. The Green Cup competition will kick off this year on Wednesday, February 16 […]