Name: Talia Haller
Year in School: Sophomore
Major: Environmentally-focused International Studies major with a finance-focused Business Administration major
Hometown: Olympia, WA
What is your favorite thing about UW?
I love the learning atmosphere at UW. It is truly an environment that propels intellectual curiosity and encourages students to be innovative and to explore their interests and passions. There is something for everybody. I love having professors who are writing must-read books and doing cutting-edge research. Everyday I get to be surrounded by people who inspire me, people who are doing amazing things, and people who want to make the world a better place.
On your free time, what do you do for fun?
In my free time, I love to learn and be adventurous. I am the type of person that would (and has) attended a three-day conference to debate and discuss cleantech technology, renewable energy, and sustainable development. I also love to be active and get outside. I rock climb, I do yoga, I hike, and I run – preferably through scenic areas, such as the forest or beach.
Tell us a little bit about the activities/organizations you’re involved with that relate to sustainability.
Last summer, I worked as a Field Manager for Fund for the Public Interest. As a Field Manager, I had a big impact on the success of my crew by setting a high standard for fundraising and directly recruiting, training, and managing canvassers. I am also the Sustainability Chair for my sorority, the social media coordinator for WashPIRG UW’s solar campaign, a participant in UW’s Environmental Alternative Spring Break Program, and a liaison for the Campus Sustainability Fund.
What exactly is sustainability?
Great question! Sustainability is subjective, it’s a buzzword, and it means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. To me, sustainability weaves through the environmental, business, and international realms. How can we optimize the use of our resources today, while at the same time making sure that these very same resources will be available in the future? The thread that connects sustainability on all levels is energy. It is energy that makes the world and the economy go round, that creates infrastructure and raises standards of living. It is energy whose future use, already taking a toll on natural resources and the environment, will determine the future of our world’s environmental health.
What inspired your passion for sustainability?
I saw a huge problem that I could help solve. UW as an institution is a leader in sustainability. My passion for sustainability is not just about leading people to make better choices. It is about leading a movement! We look back at things like the civil rights movement, and we often talk about how ashamed we are that more people who had the power to create change and propel the movement didn’t stand up and fight for equality sooner. Well, climate change, sustainability – whatever you want to call it – these are a large part, if not the most important part, of our generation’s battles. We’re fighting to protect our earth and preserve it for future generations. In 20, even 50 years, we’re going to look back and wonder why we didn’t take action sooner, why we didn’t make this issue a top priority. I want to show people that now. I want people to see the battle we’re fighting in the moment so that we can get to that point in the future and feel satisfied with the action we took.
How can UW students change their habits toward more sustainable practices?
I love helping people make sustainable choices and I am happy that UW has such a progressive environmentally-friendly culture! There are small daily habits people can do: use less resources (take your own mug, buy less clothes, don’t print every reading assignment, turn off lights), reduce your waste (recycle/compost). But there are bigger life changes people can consider as well: become a vegetarian, travel less, don’t drive (walk/bike). But all of these things can be cumbersome and require people to go out of their way. I envision a future where people don’t have to make these choices because our society is organized to naturally incentivize sustainable choices: every material is compostable so people don’t have to choose how to dispose of something; cars run on sustainable energy sources, so people don’t have to choose to travel less or try to walk, etc.