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 […]
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 […]
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, 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 […]
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, […]
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 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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
Written by Office of Sustainability Student Associate, Jarea Fang, Class of 2022 Anyone who spends enough time at WashU knows about the importance of free merchandise. Convocation, Residential College Olympics, and college visits are only some of the instances in which free WashU “merch” is gifted to students and staff. Affectionately known as “swag,” these […]
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 Brian Lallish, Communications Specialist, Office of the Vice Chancellor & Chief Information Officer Does your department or group use written agreements that require ink-on-paper signatures with a printing, faxing, scanning, and emailing process? Washington University in St. Louis uses DocuSign to automate and manage documents that require signatures. DocuSign enables faculty, staff, and students at […]
If you take a tour of the average grocery store, chances are that you will see illustrations of trees and leaves, maybe vern waterfalls and birds lurking in branding of many food products. A closer look reveals that they also have words like “natural,” “eco-friendly,” or “fresh” splashed across their label. Though you are not […]
Earlier this month, Renew Missouri announced the launch of Renew STL Solar, a “group buy” solar program for commercial building owners in the St. Louis Region. Along with other community partners, such as the City of St. Louis, WashU has been an early partner and catalyst for the development Renew STL Solar. First of its kind in […]
Donna Krekel, Senior Research Administrator in the department of Otolaryngology, and Gary De Wet, Technical Support Specialist at the Office of WUSM Chief Information Officer, have been vanpooling to and from the WashU School of Medicine campus every day of the week for over 20 years. Their vanpool party, which has been running since 1999, […]
Coffee is a luxury good, yet the average person living in the United States drinks around two cups a day. In 2010, 5,600 paper cups were disposed of every day at WashU, most of which were coffee cups. This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the carbon footprint of drinking […]
In late 2019, a group of 10 individuals from a variety of organizations and companies in the St. Louis region came together to form the board of the new St. Louis Chapter of the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL). St. Louis is a hub for scientific research and has some of the world’s best […]
Since the onslaught of Covid-19, the Office of Sustainability is among many groups who have had to come-up with creative ways to engage with the WashU community. Transitioning to virtual content has presented some challenges, but it also came with new opportunities for increased accessibility and creative use of digital tools within our programming. To […]
Increasing access to composting has been an ongoing effort at WashU. Responding to a popular student demand, composting came to the DUC in September 2019, at the same time as the pilot program for residential composting on the South 40 became a permanent service. While these programs offer a robust composting infrastructure on campus, a […]
How does Demand Response work? During the hottest days of summer, residents and businesses simultaneously use more energy than usual to cool their buildings, which puts stress on the electric grid. To ensure adequate electricity is available, specialize power plants called “peaker plants” are brought online when the grid approaches maximum capacity. Peaker plants are […]
Now more than ever, the climate crisis is on the minds of people all around the world. Due to the urgent need to implement effective solutions to this social and environmental crisis, we will be regularly featuring stories of climate solutions adopted at the university and at the local, state, and national levels to inspire […]
When COVID-19 became a worldwide pandemic in mid-March, putting a stop on long-distance travel and reducing dramatically vehicular traffic, we witnessed a direct and significant improvement of our air quality. Photos of unusual blue and clear skies over large metropolitan areas were one of a few things that cheered us up in these dark times. […]
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 […]
Remaining safe during the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged us to revisit all aspects of our lives, from work to travel to cleaning. To prevent the spread of the virus through surfaces, sanitation and disinfection procedures have become more meticulous and frequent, as we try our best to keep ourselves and our community safe. More intense […]
In recent months, St. Louis has made headlines for the adoption of several climate-forward policies and initiatives. These include the City’s passage of a solar-ready ordinance and Building Energy Performance Standard, St. Louis County’s adoption of updated building energy codes, and the success of the first phase of the regional Grow Solar residential group-buy program […]
Being stuck indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic has made many of us realize something tremendously important: Our closets are too big. The scheme of fast fashion, cheap and trendy clothing that are quick to produce and quick to become unstylish, has caused us to simultaneously buy and throw away at an increasingly quicker pace. In […]
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 […]
Updated February 2022: Bear Bites is no longer running and there is no plan to reopen. Dining Services maintains the Food Security Fund to ensure no students go without meals. Any questions regarding the Food Security Fund can be directed to diningservices@wustl.edu. According to a 2018 study published by Bon Appetit Management Company – WashU’s […]
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 […]
Prior to students moving out of their St. Louis housing as the academic year came to an unusual close, we surveyed local non-profit agencies to see who was accepting donations and to learn more about what they needed. As a result of the health and economic burdens created by the COVID-19 pandemic, these agencies are […]
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 […]
Upgrading your lights to LEDs is one of the quickest and easiest ways to reduce your carbon emissions and reduce energy costs. More time at home during the COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity to develop a priority list of home energy efficiency and decarbonization projects that you can work through in the coming months and […]
With over 200 people in attendance, the Green Labs Program was officially kicked-off with a party earlier this month. Most of our lab supply vendors, local lab sustainability groups, and departments presented their options for greening our lab spaces. Some vendors displayed high-efficiency lab equipment, others had samples of products made with recycled content, and […]
We are living through strange, stressful times. As messages echo on social media platforms and news channels provide information in a panicked scream, it is important to prioritize your health and the health of those around you. As many are cut off from their normal routines, jobs, and interactions, usual methods of self-care and wellness […]
UPDATE: As of 2021, the light bulb swap is no longer being offered. Please properly dispose of CFL bulbs by taking to the special collection boxes at Lowes or Home Depot. Incandescents can be thrown in the regular landfill – they do not contain hazardous materials like CFLs. It is better to throw out a […]
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 […]
Accounting for over 1.6 million square feet of campus space and using between 2.5 and 5 times the amount of energy as office spaces, labs represent an important opportunity to reduce the university’s carbon emissions and expand our multi-faceted effort to address climate change. Building upon the success of the Green Office Program, WashU is […]
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 frequent office moves, remodeling, and other changes in the fast-paced university setting, high-quality furniture, equipment and supplies can become a burden rather than an asset. In an effort to address this opportunity and better utilize these items, Washington University has signed up for Rheaply, an exciting new software platform that facilitates the internal recirculation […]
As landfills continue to negatively affect both the environment and human health, it is increasingly important for us to take responsibility. Of the many things we can do to decrease our contributions to the landfill, the simplest is to recycle. When recycling, keep recyclable materials clean and dry. Do not put items that aren’t on […]