University of Wisconsin–Madison
Michelle Gullickson has always been curious about the role of sustainability in education, first as an educator, then as a graduate assistant at the UW–Stevens Point Office of Sustainability, and now as Green Fund coordinator at the UW–Madison Office of Sustainability. The UW–Madison Green Fund offers financial support for student-led environmental initiatives and, just as …
Re-Wear It, a registered student organization, promotes conscious consumerism and sustainable fashion in the Madison community. They host bi-weekly clothing swaps for campus community members to donate unwanted clothing and pick up a new piece for their closet. By promoting conscious consumerism and creating a circular waste economy, they advance UW–Madison’s zero waste by 2040 …
In the fourth episode of the SustainUW Podcast’s new miniseries, Sustainability Conversations Across the Big Ten, hosts Ren Nickel and Nate Dancer meet with Kate Nelson, John Gardner, Ahnika Seifert, Carley Rice, and Hannah Lauber, representing multiple areas of sustainability from the University of Minnesota, to discuss their zero-waste initiatives, composting, and more. SustainUW members …
In our “Where Are They Now?” series, current student interns interview former students about their experience at the Office of Sustainability (OS), particularly how that experience has helped them since graduation. In the following entry, Tia Gaffney relates her conversation with Olivia Grose, a student who was involved in the Zero Waste Team within the …
Twice a week, the UW–Madison community comes together to share a warm meal. At the front of the room sits a buffet with dishes from cornbread to curry, while chatter-filled tables span the remaining space. Even better, it’s completely free! The Food Recovery Network (FRN) is a UW–Madison student organization that is responsible for …
At UW–Madison’s six dining market locations, staff work hard to feed students by preparing buffet-style meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. To meet the expected demand and decrease food waste, dining market staff use data from annual food waste audits and Leanpath technology to carefully adjust recipe quantities. Though these efforts have been effective at …
The fourth-annual Sustainability Symposium opened with Paul Robbins, Dean of the Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies, crediting students for the strides UW–Madison has made in sustainability, saying it was because they “would not leave this alone.” He noted that alongside the university’s net-zero goal, zero waste commitment, and RISE–EARTH initiative, UW–Madison recently earned its first …
If you’ve been in Union South or Memorial Union lately, chances are you’ve met Oscar. Oscar Sort is UW–Madison’s new AI waste and recycling assistant, introduced by the Office of Sustainability’s Zero Waste Team to improve recycling accuracy on campus. If you hold up a waste item to Oscar Sort’s cameras, it’ll identify it and …
Wisconsin Football games are in full swing, and with Homecoming weekend ahead, we want to make sure Badger fans have all the information and resources they need to be “green” on game day. From getting to Camp Randall to cleaning up after the tailgate, here are five simple ways to make your game-day traditions a …
Have you ever had questions like “Does plastic cutlery go in the recycling?” or “Are greasy pizza boxes recyclable?” So have we. That’s why we created the Zero Waste Compass — a tool to help you find the right way to dispose of common items on campus. Recycling can be confusing; the Zero Waste Compass …