Prelude
one cool school
BY JON MARMOR
The Greenest
E
E V E RYO N E K N OW S the official colors of the University of Washington are purple and gold. Now, you can add green to that list. In August, the Sierra Club named the UW as the nation’s most environmentally friendly university in its ranking of the nation’s “Cool Schools.” Schools were ranked on 10 factors: efficiency, energy, food, academics, purchasing, transportation, waste management, administration, financial investments and other initiatives. Amazingly, five years ago, when the Sierra Club released its first rankings, the UW was nowhere to be found. But ever since, the UW skyrocketed from the ranks of the unranked to the top of the compost heap: 9th in 2008, 2nd in 2009 and 4th last year. It’s no surprise, really. Being green has been in our DNA for a long time. As far back as 1970 (see photo at left), UW students staged the “world’s first trash-in” as a way to draw attention to the environment and the idea of recycling. Today, being green is simply part of who we are and what we do on a daily basis. And UW students continue to play a big role in this movement. A prime example occurred last year, when student activists created the Campus Sustainability Fund. This fund—essentially an additional fee students volunteered to pay— supports projects that increase World’s first trash-in, held in Red Square. File photo. campus sustainability, make sustainability a priority of student government, and include outreach and education components. As of now, students have funded 16 projects, including the UW Urban Farm expansion, Food Co-Op and Do-It-Yourself Bicycle Repair Stations. More are on the horizon. Choosing to pay another fee at a time when tuition is climbing shows what environmental stewardship means to our students. Now that’s cool.—Jon Marmor, ’94, is Managing Editor of Columns.
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THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON ALUMNI MAGAZINE FOUNDED IN 1908 DECEMBER 2011 / VOLUME 30 / NUMBER 8
4333 Brooklyn Ave. N.E. Box 359508 Seattle WA 98195-9508 Phone: 206-543-0540 Fax: 206-685-0611 columns@u.washington.edu ON THE WEB:
Uwalum.com/columns
Paul Rucker, ’95, ’02 PUBLISHER
Jon Marmor, ’94 MANAGING EDITOR
Julie Garner, ’10 Ina Zajac CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Ken Shafer ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER
Paul Fontana VIRTUAL MEDIA EDITOR
Katie Melton EDITORIAL INTERN
Bryan Daisley C I R C U L AT I O N
Columns ADVISORY COMMITTEE SUSAN WILSON WILLIAMS, ’73 President, UWAA Board of Trustees, chair
GERALD BALDASTY, ’72, ’78 Vice Provost and Dean, UW Graduate School
KERRY COUGHLIN Regional Director, Marine Stewardship Council
JEAN HAYES Senior Creative Manager, UW Marketing
KATHERINE KOBERG, ’75, ’05 Editor, Seattle Metropolitan
TINA MANKOWSKI, ’78 Associate VP, UW Medicine / Health Sciences
BOB ROSETH Director, UW Office of News and Information