UW Recycling and the UW Garbology Project are hiring a student assistant to work with office and project staff to develop outreach materials and programs. This position is an ideal part-time job for an advanced undergraduate with an interest in sustainability and waste diversion. Work hours are flexible, and the position carries up to 150 hours of funded work from summer 2013 through fall quarter 2013.The Outreach and Communications Coordinator will work with UW Recycling and the UW Garbology Project (UWGP) to develop marketing and communications materials and strategies to educate and engage the UW community in waste reduction efforts. A primary focus will be disseminating information relevant to the recently funded CSF project, The Denny Project: The Future of Waste at UW, where we studied the impact select waste diversion programs implemented in Denny Hall had on overall waste composition generated in the building.
[course] Featured Teacher Profiles for Winter 2013
Do you ever wonder how your instructors end up teaching about a particular subject, like soils or cartography… or even trash? Read below about two extremely passionate PoE instructors, how they became involved in their fields, and their unique courses offered Winter Quarter 2013!
Frederica Helmiere grew up in the suburbs of Washington D.C. in a household that produced a lot of trash. She studied religion and environmental science at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, where she experienced composting for the first time. A stint on a small Philippine Island with the Peace Corps exposed her to trash on a whole new level: different cultural norms around littering, different methods of disposing of waste in a village with no trash pickup service, and different impacts of waste on bodies and the land. She earned a joint masters degree from the Forestry School and Divinity School at Yale, focusing on the eco-justice movement. She moved out to Seattle after graduating and has been teaching at the Program on the Environment ever since. Frederica researched e-waste and transboundary dumping for a forthcoming book by a Seattle University professor and hasn’t been able to stop thinking about trash since then.
Megan Horst is excited to engage in action to reduce waste on the UW campus and in her own life. Her interest in waste was sparked as an undergrad student at Eckerd College in St Petersburg, Florida. As leader of the campus environmental club, Megan worked with the Service Learning Office and Housing/Facilities Services to implement the school’s first comprehensive recycling program – all student run. Megan spent many hours collecting recyclables (lots of beer bottles) from dorms. Megan also spent time in a small village in Honduras as a Peace Corps Volunteer. There, she faced the reality of living in a village with no trash collection, no recycling, and no “out of sight, out of mind” mentailty. Inspired by her experience and the books “No Impact Man” and “Cradle to Cradle,” Megan strives to consume responsibly and produce as little waste as possible. Megan looks forward to developing greater personal commitment as well as community consciousness in her upcoming courses. While teaching, Megan also is working towards her PhD in Urban Design and Planning, focusing on regional foodshed governance.