Sustainability at GW: Year in Review

Sustainability at GW: Year in Review

So many exciting things have happened at the university in 2018, it’s hard to keep track. Here’s a round-up of sustainability related campus happenings at GW since the beginning of the year.

January:

• Chef Jose Andres shared his story of making thousands of meals for victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, hosted by GW and Food Policy Action
• Sustainable GW and Campaign GW announced the official launch of the composting pilot
• The GroW Garden set up the next semester’s worth of community supported agriculture (CSA), where students can get weekly shares of local produce using GWorld
• GW cosponsored a talk on “Creating the Paris Path on Climate Change”
• Bernie Sanders and Bill McKibben came to the university to talk about the future of renewable energy

February:

• The first collection for the composting pilot occurred in the Mid-Campus Quad, with 80 pounds collected
• Another group of sustainably-minded students applied to live in the Zero Waste housing affinity
• Green GW’s annual Valentine’s Day succulent sale took place
• The 2018 Food Tank Summit occurred with the GW Food Institute
• Planet Forward hosted a salon with global parties
• The GroW Garden had their first volunteer hours of the year
• The $2 million Sustainable Investment Fund was announced

March:

• The GW Environmental & Energy Law Association and the Environmental Law Institute hosted a symposium
• Nutritionist Debbie Amster came to speak on how to eat a healthy diet in college
• Campaign GW hosted Earth Hour for the entire university

April:

• Sustainable GW and The Store hosted a clothing swap to combat the consequences of fast fashion
• The Planet Forward Annual Summit began, and the Storyfest winner was announced
• Sustainable GW took part in the Financing Sustainable Cities Initiative
• The Foggy Bottom Farmers Market reopened for the Spring Season
• Green GW’s annual Trashion show occurred at the Georgetown Patagonia store
• The Conscious College Road Tour made its stop at GW
• GW Dining held an event called “Smoothies for Sustainability”
• GW Campus Rec and Sustainable GW led an outdoor yoga session
• An official “campus cleanup” occurred in honor of Earth Day
• Four environmental film screenings took place
• The university congregated in Kogan Plaza for the annual Earth Day Fair

May:

• International Compost Awareness Week occurred, with GW’s compost pilot now averaging over 200 pounds collected per week
• GW celebrated #BikeToWorkDay
• GW was recognized as the largest green power user in the Atlantic 10 by the EPA Green Power Partnership
• The Class of 2018 graduated, some of which had a minor in sustainability
• The GW Commencement speaker, Marcia McNutt, was an oceanographer and president of the National Academy of Sciences
• The Green Move-Out program collected and donated over 50,000 pounds of clothes, food and household goods

June:

• Sustainable GW met the Class of 2022 at Colonial Inauguration
• The first faculty planting of the summer took place at 2101 F Street, moving the university one step closer to meeting the GW Sustainable Landscape Guidelines
• Several offices and departments re-certified their status as an official green office in the Green Office Network
• G Street Park was surveyed and will be used for an upcoming sustainability project

July:

• Sustainable GW’s first clothing repair workshop took place in collaboration with the Innovation Center
• GW cheered on the This Is Zero Hour youth climate march on capitol hill

August:

• Earth Overshoot Day occurred, and GW advocated for the #MoveTheDate initiative
• GW announced the new dining vendor on the Mount Vernon Campus, SAGE, who focus on local food and other sustainability initiatives
• Freshman moved in to their housing assignments, which were fitted with brand new recycling and trash signage
• Sustainability at GW held their Welcome Week Open House to introduce first year students to the green community
• The composting program expanded collection hours
• The sustainability blog, G-Dub Green Hub, was officially launched

September:

• The GroW Garden and Miriam’s Kitchen were featured in the Washington Post and on WTOP Radio
• Freshman Day of Service took place and GW freshman engaged in the local community on a variety of projects, many of which are directly related to sustainability in DC
• Many of the sustainability related student organizations hosted a joint info session for first year students, including Green GW, Fossil Free GW, the GroW Garden and GW Animal Advocates
• GW’s Environmental & Energy Law Program hosted a presentation on sustainability and ecological management
• A Carbon Pricing Toolkit that GW aided with was released
• The GW Student Association and The Store hosted a Food Insecurity Town Hall
• The GW Textile Museum hosted an event centering around the link between fashion and sustainability

October:

• GW Campus Rec returned with another outdoor yoga session, reminding community members that wellbeing is an important part of sustainability
• The first ever Green Roundtable occurred, bringing together sustainable student leaders from across the university
• Student eco-representatives hosted a variety of events, including DIY workshops and a mend-a-thon
• Sustainable GW announced the 2018 Duke Energy Innovation Fund winners
• Green GW hosted GW alumni Patrick Realiza to talk about entering the sustainability field after graduation

November:

• The Sustainable GW Leadership Team held a morning of ‘Coffee and Conversation’ with members of the university community
• The DC Climathon at GW took place, which was a 24-hour hack-a-thon with the goal of hacking good food access
• Sustainable GW hosted a Lead On Climate staff retreat
• Director of Sustainability Research, Robert Orttung, spoke on 900 CHML radio about climate change in the United States

December:

• The GW Sustainable Scholars Award continued to accept undergraduate research proposals, and will be giving out grants to students and staff
• The compost program finished its final collections of the year, collecting over 2 tons of compost since the launch in January
• Sustainable GW is hosting a holiday party and sustainability tour of the university to celebrate a successful year