Grounds, Waste Management and Pest Control

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Seattle University Grounds, Landscaping, Athletic Fields, Waste Management and Pest Control are community leaders in sustainability.

  1. Facilities
  2. Grounds, Waste Management and Pest Control

What We Do

Grounds and Waste Management practices preserves and supports ecological integrity, enhance natural diversity and protect wildlife while supporting campus operations.

Seattle University is committed to stewarding a safe and inclusive indoor and outdoor environment that provides educational opportunities for students, faculty and staff.

Grounds and Waste Management is a Facilities work group.

Emergency Contacts

Facilities Resource Center: 206-296-6996
Public Safety: 206-296-5990
Grounds: 206-296-6440

Gardens, Athletic Fields, Waste Reduction

Summer Orientation, Session 4, Day 1, Redhawk Social

Athletic Fields

Championship Field is a sustainably-maintained, sand-based natural sport turf field. It measures 86,000 square feet and accommodates training practices and competition play year-round.

Seattle University Park is a synthetic turf field of 108,330 square feet and accommodates university varsity athletics, UREC and club sports.

Logan Field Varsity Softball is a specialized mix of sand, silt and clay and field conditioner over gravel drain field and accommodates training practices and competition play year-round.

Bowl of Tears outside Pigott - Sacred Spaces on campus

Significant Gardens

Seattle University Gardens reflect a long history of prominent gardeners upholding plant collections for pacific northwest natives, urban wildlife and pollinators.

Plant collections support campus community education, enjoyment, research, conservation and higher learning.

SU gardens include Japanese gardens Kubota and Remembrance, Coast Salish Vi Hilbert Ethnobotanical Gardens, Cisco Morris Biodiversity Garden, prominent pacific northwest rain gardens and many gems throughout campus.

Spring in bloom on campus with Garrand Building and the Administration Building in the background

Notable Trees

The Seattle University campus is home to a large number of venerable trees. Many are of historical significance, linked to Fugitaro Kubota and the Kubota family legacy on the campus grounds.

The SU urban forest is a living, dynamic system supported and cared for by generations of campus gardeners and community working to preserve this critical environmental resource.

Noteworthy Trees

Two persons having a conversation in a outside table in the campus surrounded by fall colors

Edible Campus

Aligned with the Jesuit values, SU Grounds Edible Campus Initiative focuses on integral ecology of multiple systems of growing edibles, highlighting food security and justice issues.

Students engage with campus gardeners and learn organic greenhouse management, starting veggies from seed, transplanting, organic plant and pest management and coordinated harvest donation.

The edible campus is a sustainable urban agriculture tool for teaching others, a springboard for rethinking broken food systems, and an incubator for inventive ideas about food security for future generations. By designing edibles into the existing gardens, we are encouraging students to identify and harvest food in their own backyard.

Trees with Spring Flowers

Waste Management

We strive to become a zero-waste campus by providing excellent facilities and services while having the highest recycling rate possible and the lowest overall weights possible for all waste streams.

It is campus-wide policy to integrate sustainability into current operational practices; Facilities Services has oversight in managing, collecting and disposing of waste, recycling. Composting and surplus.

Garden behind Admin building - Sacred Spaces on campus

Awards, Recognition, and Campus Involvement

  • National Wildlife Federation Campus Race to Zero Waste 2024 National Winners
  • Post Landfill Action Network for pursuing zero waste goals
  • Green Building Council TRUE Advisor Certificates for pursuing zero waste goals
Seattle University's Administration building seen through the fall colors of campus

Memberships & Partners

  • National Wildlife Federation
  • Post Landfill Action Network

Sustainable Engagement

  • Our organic practices include weed suppression, water conservation, right plant — right place and planting trees as foundations for all grounds land care practices and operations.
  • Our water conservation efforts include digital controls, along with rain sensors and piping systems that inform water savings and high performances for campus lawn, tree, and shrub care.
  • Through careful environmental design, we contribute to crime prevention by providing clear viewing corridors in the outdoor environment.
  • SFMA Environmental Sustainability 2019-2022
  • Tree Campus Higher Education 2021 Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Pollinator Pathway & Pesticide Free
  • Laudato Si Action Platform
  • Varsity Athletic Fields
  • Center for Environmental Justice and Sustainability
  • Washington State Nursery and Landscape Association
  • Sports Turf Managers Association
  • International Society of Arboriculture
  • Washington Native Plant Society
  • Kubota Foundation
  • UW Bothell - Cascadia - Tilth Alliance/Garden Hotline
  • Woodland Park Zoo
  • Portland State University

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