First human-composting funeral home in the U.S. opens
Recompose, a Seattle-based company, now offers an innovative funeral service that turns human remains into healthy soil.
Washington State
Washington State stretches from the rainy Pacific coast to high desert plateaus, with a culture shaped by Indigenous nations, tech innovation, and deep environmental commitments. This archive tracks progress stories from across the state — clean energy, public health, conservation, and community wins.
Washington is the first U.S. state to hold a climate assembly
Eighty members of the public have been selected through a lottery to join the country’s first climate assembly in Washington. The assembly is constituted to deliberate on environmental issues.
Amazon launches $2 billion fund to make 20,000 affordable homes for working families
The Housing Equity Fund will invest more than $2 billion to preserve and create over 20,000 affordable housing units in Washington State’s Puget Sound; Arlington, Virginia; and Nashville, Tennessee.
Salmon spawn in the upper Columbia River for the first time in 80 years
Since 2014, tribes along the Columbia River have been working on a plan to reintroduce salmon to the river, researching factors such as habitat, fish passage, and others.
San Francisco, Oakland, and Seattle ban natural gas in new buildings
In November, San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors voted to ban natural gas in new buildings. On December 2, Oakland’s city council did the same. Now Seattle Mayor Durkan announced a proposal to ban natural gas in new commercial and large multi-family construction for space and most water heating.
50 Native American tribes are now implementing climate strategies
Dozens of Native nations and tribal institutions in the United States have designed climate change plans that include formal strategies and initiatives to increase the resiliency of their communities.
Global hop supplier installs largest solar array in Washington state
Yakima Chief Hops (YCH), a 100% farmer owned hop supplier for the brewing industry, has announced their latest solar panel installation for a total of 3,706 solar panels, the largest rooftop solar array in Washington state.
IBM, Amazon, and Microsoft stop selling facial recognition software to police
Advocacy groups like the ACLU have long raised significant privacy concerns regarding facial recognition. Researchers like Joy Buolamwini, Timnit Gebru, and Deborah Raji have demonstrated that these technologies can come with built-in racial and gender biases.
World’s largest all-electric airplane takes historic first flight
The all-electric Cessna Grand Caravan 208B successfully completed its first test flight—and it is being hailed as a significant milestone in disrupting the transportation industry and accelerating the electric aviation revolution.
Starbucks is piloting fully compostable cups in five cities
Starbucks is piloting cups that are just like the company’s normal cups, but the plastic lining has been replaced with a compostable liner, making the cups recyclable and compostable.