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 […]
In 2018, the WashU School of Medicine Operations and Facilities Management Department published its first Sustainable Operations Strategic Plan for 2018 – 2025. This document was built upon the Office of Sustainability’s institution wide plan that was published in 2015, but shines light on programs and plans that are specific to the School of Medicine. Now […]
“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 […]
Written by Communications Associate, Jarea Fang It has been more than half a century since we first celebrated Earth Day on April 22nd, 1970. Since then, our society has grown steadily more aware of the climate crisis, with many taking action in increasingly diverse ways. From joining international collaboration efforts to amplifying local activism like […]
Written by Office of Sustainability student associate, Kyla Fung, class of 2026 Over the past decade, sustainability practices at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) have evolved and expanded dramatically. Starting as a small set of initiatives, our sustainability goals have developed into a holistic strategy that includes active partnership from hundreds of individuals on […]
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 […]
Written by Communications Associate, Jarea Fang Groundskeeping is a year-round task. From raking leaves in the fall, watering lawns in the summer, to plowing sidewalks during winter, WashU Grounds Services and service contractor, Focal Pointe Outdoor Solutions, have their hands full. Spring is an especially beautiful time of year around campus. With daffodils, cherry blossoms, […]
Written by Alicia Hubert and Heather Craig, WUSM Sustainability Team Over the past few months, labs across both the Medical Campus and the Danforth Campus have been testing out the new certification checklist for the Green Labs Program. Labs have been able to commit to the program since early 2020, but this is the first […]
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 student associate, Kyla Fung, Class of 2026 For many, one of the most drastic changes brought upon day-to-day life by the COVID-19 pandemic has been the shift to working (or schooling!) from home. For busy students and workers, this shift has also been accompanied by the loss of their daily commute, which has […]
Written by Communications Associate, Jarea Fang For the second year in a row, Forest Park is named the country’s #1 city park by USA TODAY. This comes as no surprise for residents of St. Louis, of course. Sitting on 1,300 acres and boasting 15 million annual visits, Forest Park is our pride and joy. As […]
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 guest contributor and WashU class of 2018 alum, María Dabrowski One day during my junior year at WashU, I found myself lying in bed and wondering (forthe 18th time that month) if maybe I should be pre-med after all. Despite barely passingchemistry, physics, and calculus, I convinced myself that the trajectory all my […]
Written by Communications Associate, Jarea Fang Take-out meals are the best of both worlds, a heavenly combination of restaurant food and the comfort of your own home. The demand for take-out has especially increased since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when physical distancing became the norm. Striking a balance between disease prevention and reducing […]
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 […]
Written by student associate, Kyla Fung, Class of 2026 It’s October 2022, and the crisp fall breeze invokes a faint chill in the air. Unbeknownst to the workers of Resolute Products, however, a fire has engulfed the recycled kraft pulp mill in Menominee, Michigan. Unforeseen by those who would discover the catastrophe later, the fire […]
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 […]
After many requests by students and staff, WashU’s School of Medicine is excited to announce a pilot post-consumer compost collection program! While back-of-house compost has been collected from the kitchens for many years, the pandemic paused efforts to expand the School of Medicine’s waste diversion programs. WUSM will be “pressing play” in February 2023 with […]
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 […]
Yes, you can recycle that. One of the most frequent questions sent to sustainability@wustl.edu is “How can I recycle my office’s ink cartridges?” Depending on the brand of cartridge, there are different instructions. Most involve printing a pre-paid postage label and sending them back to the manufacturer. However, thanks to a new program offering by […]
Written by Communications Associate, Jarea Fang No member of our consumerist society is unfamiliar with the concept of a supply chain shortage. A quick Google search will reveal to some that the 2021-2022 global supply chain crisis is an actual Wikipedia title, while others only need to scroll on social media to remember the recent […]
Written by Communications Associate, Jarea Fang It is a common trait among college students to love free food, which is probably why free food is present at almost all campus events. While hilarious, it’s also important to consider that a college student’s love of free food may be more complicated than we think, as food […]
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 […]
Written by Communications Associate, Jarea Fang Climate change is a scary reality whether you’re on the leading edge of climate research or an individual experiencing the impacts of it. In 2015, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared climate change to be the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century. According to a 2021 […]
Written by Communications Associate, Jarea Fang Food, in more ways than one, brings people together. Whether by eating, preparing, or shopping together, food is an integral part of society’s daily functions. Changing our food habits, even modestly, allows individuals to make significant impacts on the environment. According to Project Drawdown’s Table of Solutions, which outlines plausible […]
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 […]
Written by WashU alum, Jarea Fang, Class of 2022. As part of our nation suffers unprecedented drought, other parts are deluged with flood waters. If we learned anything from this unpredictable summer (or generation, really), it’s that water–both in deficit and in excess–can be deadly to all. According to National Geographic, to irrigate means to […]
Electric vehicles (EVs) are becoming increasingly more common on the road. You can now even find them on the School of Medicine campus! In 2022, the School of Medicine has taken big steps in transitioning to a more fuel-efficient fleet. Two Ford E-transits, which are fully electric vehicles, were added to the Operations and Facilities […]
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 […]
Written by Office of Sustainability Student Associate, Anna Haudrich, Class of 2023. This past month, hordes of WashU students excitedly gathered in the Share Our Stuff (SOS) warehouse for a sustainable shopping spree. While the temperatures were high, the affordable furniture and other items seemed to be selling just as hot. As many students […]
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. […]
This article was written by Jarea Fang, a Communications & Marketing intern at OOS. Along with several other students and staff, they participated in the ESCC Internship’s Spring 2022 volunteering activity, a honeysuckle removal event at Tyson Research Center. Bush honeysuckle, also known as Amur honeysuckle, is one of the most destructive invasive species in […]
Does your office, lab, or dorm room have a stockpile of items that are still functional but you no longer want or need? If so, sounds like you could use WashUReuse. Washington University in St. Louis has signed up for an exciting software platform through Rheaply AxM that facilitates the internal recirculation of unneeded furniture, […]
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 […]
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 […]
Starting April 7th, WashU will launch a partnership with HOSCO as its new Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) provider. HOSCO (Holistic Organic Sustainable Cooperatives), is a sustainable not-for-profit business incubator model for food production, entrepreneurship and apprenticeship training. Their mission is to significantly increase access of local foods while creating jobs and economic development by […]
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, Jarea Fang, Class of 2022 According to the Green Dining Alliance, which certifies and promotes St. Louis restaurants in their sustainability practices including three WashU dining outlets, taking care of your staff is one important hallmark of a green restaurant. This has never been more present today, as […]