In September 2024, WashU launched the WashU Climate Corps, part of the Campus Climate Action Corps (CCAC), the first nationwide AmeriCorps program solely dedicated to campus-based, community-led climate action. The summer term of the WashU Climate Corps will run from May or June 2025 through the end of July 2025 and will build on the foundation of the program […]
Written by Office of Sustainability student associates, Wissal Boudaoud and Cate Young, Class of 2025. We celebrated Active Transportation Month on the WashU shuttles this October. Students who rode the shuttles and entered our raffle won exciting prizes from businesses along the routes, including Schnucks movie theater popcorn, Fitz’s root beer, and a Crema Coffee […]
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 […]
WashU was commended for the success of its Green Labs Program at the 2024 International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL) conference, held this year in St. Louis. The conference convened architects, engineers and sustainability professionals to discuss energy efficiency and waste reduction in research laboratories. The “honorable mention” award recognized the program’s rapid growth over […]
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 […]
WashU’s Grounds Service contractor, Focal Pointe Outdoor Solutions, was awarded the Ralph Wafer Environmentally Sustainable Business Award at the Missouri Coalition for the Environment (MCE) luncheon in September. This award honors business leaders and entrepreneurs whose innovation and dedication drive the economy towards environmental respect and inclusion. It is named for Ralph Wafer, a distinguished […]
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 […]
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, an estimated 30-40% of the food supply is wasted in the United States. Reducing food waste is ranked as the number one solution to mitigating the warming effects of climate change. WashU School of Medicine (WUSM) dining partner, Bon Appetit, is actively working to reduce food waste generated […]
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, […]
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 […]
Last week, WashU celebrated Earth Day on the School of Medicine campus. An estimated 200 people attended the WashU Earth Day Festival to learn about sustainable initiatives from a variety of WashU programs and organizations from the St. Louis area. Operations and Facilities Management Department, which houses sustainability staff at the Medical Campus, had a […]
“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. […]
Every year, healthcare leaders from over 1,000 hospitals across the country converge at the annual CleanMed conference, this year held in Pittsburgh, PA. CleanMed is hosted by Practice Greenhealth and Healthcare Without Harm, two organizations focused on fighting climate change within the healthcare sector. Climate change is one of the biggest threats to global human […]
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 […]
Environmental Studies’ Impact Internship program has been partnering with the Restorative Justice Movement Center to provide meaningful opportunities and skills for WashU students to help address real environmental issues in Missouri. One of the interns with Restorative Justice Movement Center, Eimear Cunningham, shares her experience as an Environmental Studies Impact Intern below. I had the […]
Whether you are launching the Green Office Program in your office for the first time or picking it up again after a bit of a hiatus, or even if you are getting a new office space ready for the first time, here are some suggestions for where to start. Whether it is on the individual […]
Each year, billions of birds pass through the United States on their way to seasonal destinations. And each year, these birds are among the 600,000 birds that die after colliding with buildings. Cities like St. Louis pose a disproportionate risk to birds, as the geography, developmental spread and glow of night time lights converge to […]
Written by Office of Sustainability Student Associate, Jarea Fang, Class of 2022 As the daffodils, cherry blossoms, and tulips start to bloom on the Danforth campus, the WashU community is once again reminded of our world’s beauty. WashU’s Earth Week has already passed, but campus is still buzzing with activity as students and staff alike […]
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 […]
See below for a list of events on and off campus for Earth Month this April! Additional WashU Programming Cahokia Mounds day trip | April 1st, 10am This event is sponsored by the Outing Club 31st Annual Pow Wow | April 16th, 12pm (Doors open at 10am), WashU Field House This event is sponsored by […]
After pausing during the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Green Office Program has officially relaunched! During this truly unprecedented time, the pandemic has changed WashU’s office life completely. About 25% of green office participants responded to a survey designed to understand how offices shifted during the university’s pandemic operations, lessons they’ve learned, and what […]
The Origin of the Midwest Climate Summit On average, Midwest states lag behind the rest of the country on energy efficiency, decarbonization of the electric sector, transportation electrification, and green building. However, the Midwest is also home to states, cities, businesses, institutions, and organizations that are national climate leaders and can serve as models and […]
In celebration of Plastic Free July, staff and students from the Office of Sustainability came together to participate in the virtual Plastic Free Ecochallenge, inviting the broader WashU community to gather in the “WashU Together” team. Building up on the success of the Earth Day Ecochallenge, this virtual program ended up being the perfect opportunity […]
The global mobilization for Black lives and racial justice that we are experiencing today brings us to take a close look at how our disciplines have been perpetuating white supremacy and racism. We are challenged to take every action possible to dismantle these mechanisms, and to ensure that the work we do deliberately and simultaneously […]
WashU is partnering with the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Midwest Renewable Energy Association to offer a second phase of Grow Solar St. Louis! Grow Solar is a group-buy program for residential solar that makes it easier for homeowners and small businesses to install solar and slash their carbon emissions. The program is designed to […]
For about half the human population, menstruation is, or has been, a monthly part of life. But for many, adequate period management is still beyond reach. Unicef reports that 2.3 billion people around the world lack access to basic sanitation services, like clean running water and soap, which are essential to keep healthy while on […]
The dramatic and rapid changes in behaviors of individuals, organizations, and systems at all scales induced by the COVID-19 pandemic affect our environment, climate, and ecosystems. What does our reaction to the pandemic say about our ability to tackle climate change? How does social distancing impact greenhouse gas emissions? Has COVID-19 helped ease air pollution? […]
Observing the stay-at-home order during the coronavirus pandemic requires individuals to do whatever they can to remain at home and limit travel to necessities: acquiring food and medical care, and going to work for “essential” workers and front-line healthcare staff. As a result, going to the grocery can become an exotic pleasure – the one […]
Imagine that you are a student at Olin Library, your arms outstretched with an ID, ready to print out a reading for your class this afternoon. The papers come out nice and warm, from a printer that is hot to the touch. You staple the pages together, retreat to a booth in Whisper’s, and highlight […]
The 2020 City Nature Challenge invites cities around the world to document their local biodiversity, embracing the collaborative aspect of sharing nature observations with a digital community and celebrating the healing power of nature. This bioblitz-style event engages citizens in a biodiversity documenting spree from April 24-27. The aim of the international project is to […]
WashU is now one of the many institutions who has closed its campus doors to prevent the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The suite of radical measures that have been so rapidly adopted in the past week put priority on the health and safety or our community, which is the most important thing. The world’s […]
After a long and cold winter, what better feeling than offering your body some physical activity in fresh air? Join the Office of Sustainability, Parking & Transportation Services and friends for a season of exciting events and programs centered around active transportation. In support of WashU active commuters, the recently-opened Active Commuter Hub provides a […]
Every spring since 2011, WashU’s South 40 Residential Colleges compete to reduce energy use and adopt more sustainable lifestyles, taking away hundreds of metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere and helping the university save money on electricity costs. Traditionally, the competition takes place over a 4-week period during which students do all they can […]
Have you noticed the appearance of a couple of large digital signs displaying sustainability-related content on the Danforth campus? Since last summer, both the Whispers Café in the Olin Library and the second floor of the Schnuck Pavilion display a “sustainability dashboard”, an interactive screen that provides users with a fun and engaging experience. The […]
Plastic is everywhere; it is virtually unavoidable in most situations and it is easy to find all of your favorite products safely packaged in a plastic container if you so choose. However, all plastic ever manufactured since it was invented in 1907, is still on our planet. Whether it is buried in landfills, polluting our […]
Increasingly transparent and diffuse, environmental injustice is pervasive locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. Communities of color, as well as lower-income communities, witness a higher rate of environmental injustice, which imposes disproportionate economic, environmental, and health burdens on these communities. Increased awareness of the universality of environmental injustices helps foster advocacy and educational initiatives to advance […]
In the wake of the recent UN Youth Summit, the UN Climate Action Summit, the Global Climate Strike, and the UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) happening right now in Madrid, Spain, it’s clear that climate change is on the minds of people all over the world. When it comes to climate action, discussions tend to […]
Between September 20 and 27, an estimated 7.6 million people and 3,000+ businesses participated in the Global Climate Strike in 185 countries around the world. Inspired by Greta Thunberg’s Fridays for Future, the strikes took place on Friday September 21 and September 27. Some journalists suggest that it may have been the biggest international environmental protest […]
This fall, the WashU team working on climate change and sustainability has gotten stronger! Cassie Hage was promoted to the new role of Assistant Director of the Office of Sustainability, and two new team members were onboarded to advance climate action at WashU, in the St. Louis region, and in the Midwest. Learn more about […]
Every day, hundreds if not thousands of bikes are ridden to and around WashU campuses. Nearly 30% of the WashU student population commute by bike, benefitting from the health, financial, and environmental benefits offered by this active and fun mode of transportation. Over the past few years, WashU – a Bike Friendly University at a […]
With the start of classes this August, WashU Dining Services quietly rolled out a simple and straight-forward response to a long- requested service by dining customers – students, staff and faculty alike. On either side of the dish return window, the waste storing holes which previously offered recycling and landfill now have two holes each […]
Washington University in St. Louis is pleased to support the 2019 Green the Church Summit by providing no-cost registration for a limited number of St. Louis community members, as well as university students, faculty, and staff. Green The Church (GTC) is a national initiative designed to tap into the power and purpose of the African […]
A recent heavy rainstorm in St. Louis caused a storm drain backup and minor flooding in the gymnasium in the basement of Olin Residence Hall at the School of Medicine. The WUSM facilities team was able to solve the drainage problem to prevent flooding in future rain events, but the gym floor was not able […]
In late 2017, the Whittemore House earned certification with the Green Dining Alliance, receiving a 5-star award for its “exemplary understanding and performance of sustainable practices.” In addition to recognizing restaurants for their sustainability efforts, the Green Dining Alliance (GDA) encourages and facilitates steady progress toward low-impact practices and efficient use of resources. Audits are conducted […]