Blog post by Dorothy Kong
On Thursday, May 28th, this quarter’s ENVIR 480 course culminated with a walking tour on the environmental history and sustainability of the University of Washington campus. The tour was open to the public and as we, the tour guides, gathered at Drumheller Fountain in our purple shirts, a larger group of people gradually began to form around us! Around 11:45 AM, the tour kicked off with an introduction from Megan Horst and Ashley Blazina, the instructors for this quarter, and they split the group into two.
One tour, titled “The Hidden Challenges and Stories of UW Sustainability,” focused on the diverse inputs of UW’s environmental history, including many of the hidden challenges the university still faces in terms of sustainability. This group elaborated on Red Square, buildings/power, the Medicinal Herb Garden, and transportation. The second tour, titled “Big Icons of UW: How Our Visual Identity Informs Our Sustainability,” focused on who we cheer for, what we eat, and how we move as a community and population. This was the group I was a part of and we visited the south end of campus, including the Burke-Gilman Trail, Husky Stadium, Lake Washington, and UBNA.
Tour Highlights
For this tour project, the ENVIR 480 class was split into groups of 3-5 and we each put together a presentation for one of the stops on the tour. Since each group studied a small aspect of UW’s environmental history and sustainability, piecing all of the information together into a more complete picture through the tour gave an even broader story of our campus! I honestly learned so much that I hadn’t known before through my own group’s research and other group’s presentations. Here are just a few of the interesting facts I picked up:
- The Burke-Gilman trail used to be a railway, which was founded by a group of men led by Thomas Burke and Daniel Gilman
- The railway was abandoned and transformed into a trail (27 miles) in the 1970’s
- 95% of the waste from the 2013 construction of Husky Stadium was recycled or reused
- Husky Stadium is U-shaped with the opening toward Lake Washington, which means fans can sailgate (or tailgate by boat)
- The bleachers from the old stadium were repurposed as panels behind the UW logo at the front of the current stadium
- Lake Washington used to be called Lake Stinko because of how Seattle discharged phosphate-treated sewage into the lake in the 1900’s
- The water from stormwater drains at UW is discharged into Lake Washington through 2 places
- The Lake Washington Ship Canal lowered the lake’s water level by 8 feet
- Much of UBNA and the surrounding area used to be part of the Montlake Landfill in 1911-1966 before being partially cleared, covered, and developed
- Ravenna Creek used to connect Green Lake and Lake Washington until partially drying up around Cowen Park
Reflection
I never thought that I would lead a tour, but this class proved me wrong. I now have a greater appreciation of those who regularly lead tours because it really isn’t easy. In particular, my group had trouble talking loud enough with the traffic from the nearby street and we also had to change our location last-minute to one with more shade because of the hot weather. This year’s topic was also a big one to tackle and I only wish that there was a way to fit more of the interesting information my group found from research into the presentation!
Overall, ENVIR 480 has informed me of the rich history of UW and how the university has gradually implemented more sustainable practices throughout the years, but still has a ways to go. I’m glad that I had the opportunity to learn this while I’m still attending UW and can appreciate walking across this campus every day.