updated 8/1/20



Cascadia College is proud to have a sustainability focus for our campus, our culture, and our curriculum. Each quarter presents us with exciting new sustainable events and projects for our students and community throughout the year. Here are a few highlights of the features on our campus that create a healthier, more accessible, and sustainable environment for our students.



For those that are inspired, consider applying to our sustainable Associate and Bachelor’s programs!

Growing Areas: Food Forest, Farm, and Herb Walk



Food Forest – Cascadia’s Cornucopia

Our Food forest on campus features an edible landscape of trees and planter areas and serves as an example of the integrated learning opportunities at Cascadia. Students enrolled in various science, social science, and English classes have explored the food forest as part of their education. The fruit trees are ready for harvest primarily in late summer and early fall, but the food forest shows how urban farming and permaculture can meet to provide food sustainability to the local area!



Our food forest was even featured in Swanson’s Nursery blog!



The campus community is invited to visit the food forest to see what’s growing. But remember… in order to maintain a sustainable food forest, please harvest responsibly. Take what you can eat but save some for future visitors and pay attention to the “harvest me” signs to ensure that you are getting to taste the fruit at its peak ripeness.

Herb Walk

Our Herb Walk is at the south end of campus, near the UW sign. The community is invited to peruse the herbs growing there starting in the spring and learn about types and even recipes from the guidebook! Herbs are a win-win for human and pollinators alike. Our campus pollinators enjoy the lavender, rosemary, chives, and other herbs more than we do.

Campus Farm

The campus farm area is a joint working space for UW Bothell and Cascadia College. Combined efforts from classes, Facilities, Grounds team, and Cascadia and UW Bothell student clubs work to grow an edible smorgasbord of vegetables and edible plants, and create space for projects, events, and learning about home gardening! Over the summer, you’ll find an abundance of vegetables such as summer squash, tomatoes, beans, and cucumbers. Again… pay attention to the “harvest me” stakes to ensure that you are picking the vegetables at the appropriate time and make sure to leave enough for others gardeners to harvest.

Pollinator beds, meadow, and hedgerows

Throughout the campus we have created a welcoming habitat for native pollinators by providing them with floral resources throughout the growing season. The pollinator plantings provide pollen and nectar to support the health of bees and other pollinators while also providing shelter for nesting habitat. These areas provide the human population with increased yields in the farm and food forest, areas of research for student learning, and recreational enjoyment for photographers and the entomologically curious.

Human Health Services



Health and Wellness Resource Center

Human health, wellness, and societal stability are important parts of sustainability. The ARC on campus has a Health and Wellness Resource Center (HaWRC), accessible to both Cascadia College and UW Bothell students for a variety of services; from healthcare, to homelessness prevention, to tax preparation, mental health services and counciling, and financial coaching!



Kodiak Cave

The Kodiak Cave is Cascadia’s food pantry! If you’re food insecure or need some food supplies in times of trouble (like 2019’s largest snow event since 1923!), any current Cascadia student can access our food resource center! There are pick up options, and online resources for times when campus is closed!

Transportation Services

From electric vehicle charging stations to bike racks and maintenance stations to a busy bus transit center; Cascadia continues to make every effort to decrease dependence on single occupancy vehicles. Look for bike racks, explore our trail accessible campus, and discover easy bus routes to classes!

Wetland and Grounds

Our joint campus has a restored 58-acre wetland on it, one of the largest wetland and floodplain restoration efforts in the Pacific Northwest. Since restoration and the campus opened in 2000, we’ve seen a return of local species of wildlife, including deer, beavers, migratory birds, and of course, our crows!



Because of the wetland’s success, our campus was rated #1 in the nation for our sustainable grounds and wetland by the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment, and Rating System through the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) in 2018 and 2019!

The Built Environment

Global Learning and the Arts Building (CC3) and Mobius Hall

Opened in Winter 2009, this 54,000 sq. ft building every effort was made to use the latest and greenest technologies resulting in being named the 2nd LEED Platinum building ever built in the state of Washington. The vegetated roof, 10 thousand gallon rainwater cistern, solar panels, and daylighting design all create a building that is sustainable and in design to use fewer resources.

The wood in the building is Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, and some of it was taken from the land right where CC3 now stands!

Research and Projects

Cascadia has a variety of research, education, and engagement projects. Please check out what’s been going on at our website for sustainable projects!



Our campus completed a grant from the Washington Native Plants Society to increase pollinator plant coverage – you can see our student designed and created pollinator beds right by the north parking garage!



We have student led research going on testing our water quality of our wetlands and local pollinator species, to name a few! If you’d like to get involved, or have a sustainability idea, we’d love to hear about that also!